Mikey's Worth
by Shockeye7665
Summary: After Mikey runs away from the lair, after his brothers upset him, he runs up to the surface, where he soon finds himself in the fight of his life, being pursued by Cerberus, Doctor Baxter Stockman's mysterious benefactors. Part of the Turtle Effect series. Rated M for violence, some sexual content and for language.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.  
**

* * *

_Mid-Ward District, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 20th, 2183_.

On the buildings above the streets full of the busy and unconcerned inhabitants of the Citadel, a 4'8" tall mutant turtle with a shade of dark lime green skin, carrying two nunchaku on his belt, was jumping between the rooftops. It was usually fortunate that no one on the Citadel bothered to look up, expecting to see skycars. Because as many long time residents of the Citadel would say, "you get bored of all those skycars within the end of your first week here".

So Hamato Michelangelo, or Michelangelo, or if you wanted something short, Mikey, after jumping one of the rooftops, stumbled as he panted and breathed heavily in exhaustion as he also had tears running down his face, staining his orange bandana.

Slowing down to a halt, Mikey soon stopped, sniffing as he tried holding back the tears, but soon slumped on the ground, putting his arms on his knees and then burying his face into his arms, not paying attention to the surroundings.

But this would prove to be a big misjudgment, as a security camera, mounted on the same roof as the building Mikey was on, in the middle of moving to look around within it's arc, soon managed to get a clear view on Mikey, and even though moving onwards, later stopped and went back to focus on the saddened and dejected mutant turtle, sitting down with his face in arms, unaware that he was being watched.

* * *

"David"!

The balding, dark haired, 5'10" tall Director of Olympus Cell, Cerberus' main operating cell on the Citadel, who was looking out of the windows of his office, looking at the vista and the skycars outside, knew who that deep, smooth British voice belonged to.

Turning his head, Bishop saw as Jack Webber, his 6'2" tall, curly dark blond haired and blue-green eyed, second in command and confident, gave one of his wide, warm smiles that looked sinister to some, but not to Bishop.  
_Jack must have some good news for me, then. I could use some after all these past few weeks_...

After pressing buttons on his omni-tool, to ensure that no prying eyes would listen in, Bishop turned around and walked to his desk, whilst speaking with his right hand man.  
"Jack! I do hope you've got some good news for me. I could really use some. After all, it'd be such a waste giving off that smile of yours just for some bad news".  
At his boss' comment, which he finished with a smile, Jack chuckled slightly and then went as he sat down from across Bishop's desk, "Right. And your day's about to be brightened, David. I've got a new lead on the 'Turtles'".  
An eyebrow raised and "Really? Do go on".  
"One of them has been located. I've just got this news from our tech specialists. It seemed your idea paid off, David. They got this from a random security camera in the Mid-Ward District, and as soon as a still was available, I went up to here as fast as I could".

Taking a wrapped up, printed, still photograph out of his suit, Jack Webber handed it to David Bishop, who unwrapped it, and looked at it curiously for a few minutes before saying, "Mid-Ward District, you say"?  
"That's right. And I've sent up operatives to follow and observe from a distance, as so we don't spook this, 'Turtle' as well as keep tabs for us and bring live updates as the situation develops".  
"Good job, Jack. Well done. Now, here's what I want you to do. Go and see if there's been any change in the situation, and keep me updated when you can. In the meantime, I'm going off to make some calls".  
"Understood".

As Jack got up and left, Director Bishop waited until he had left the office, then he got up from his desk, to draw the blinds on his other windows and the door.

And then, finally, he looked at one of the paintings on the wall behind him and slid his index finger under a fingerprint scanner that was carefully hidden within the frame.

Some beeping and chirping later, and then, the voice of the Illusive Man's assistant came out from speakers from the painting.  
"_Jana here. How may I help you, Director Bishop_"?

"Hello, Jana. Is the boss' schedule free for a face-to-face meeting"?

"_One moment, please_..."

A few 5 minutes of waiting around and, "_yes. He can see you at around now, Director Bishop_".

"Good. Thanks, Jana".  
"_You're welcome_".

The transmission was cut off from Jana's end, as then, Director Bishop exited his room, locked the office and went to a grey circle in the floor, that was surrounded by two sofas, a coffee table, bookshelves, a fireplace and a vidscreen.

Standing still for a while, Bishop was then used to the sounds emitted as an orange cylindrical light rose out of the ground, scanning Bishop.  
And soon, he found himself in that large, darkened room, facing his boss, the Illusive Man.

Sitting in his chair, ever present with a cigarette in between the index and middle fingers of his right hand, the Illusive Man's very unhuman and unnatural eyes looked upon Director Bishop.  
"Report".  
"Sir, we've found one of the Turtles".

* * *

**Well, sorry for the delay everyone, but I had trouble trying to figure out how to begin this chapter, but soon I worked out this to begin "Mikey's Worth".**

**Next chapter, we'll be focusing on the Turtles and also, what led Mikey up to this moment.**

**So anyways, don't forget to leave a review at anytime and see you next time!**


	2. Balancing Act

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.**

* * *

_"The Lair", the Sewers under Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 20th, 2183_.  
_Several hours ago_...

Within the dojo, a specialized training area part of the lair that Splinter had put up, April O'Neil kneeled on the carpet of the dojo, at Master Splinter's side, and watched attentively as the four teenage mutant ninja turtles were about to practice and hone their skills on one of Splinter's tests of the day.  
Ever since she and her father took residence in the sewer lair of this remarkable family, April was a regular spectator in the dojo.

And she was watching quite a very unusual test that Master Splinter, the Turtles' rat Sensei (which in Japanese, literally meant "person born before another", but in general usage, meant teacher) and father, had devised.

The Turtles had their uniquely colored bandanas moved around the sides, the eye-holes were now to the left side of their heads, they had apples and oranges balancing on their arms and a single egg balancing on their head, and they were balancing on a balancing board each.  
And Master Splinter was carrying a set of arrows, along with a small bow.

"My sons, today you will be learning on how to perceive threats that you cannot see. The tasks are simple. You have to not fall over, and do this without dropping all those apples, oranges and eggs all over the dojo. Anyone who does so, gets the task of cleaning the dojo".

At their groans, April saw Splinter give off a slight smile, as he went, "And I just had this dojo cleaned, after that food fight that Michelangelo insisted on having last night. So don't make me give any one of you a reason to clean this dojo spotless"! Then, April saw that Splinter gave off a slight chuckle, but then his face quickly turned to seriousness as he put a arrow at his bow, pulled it up and readied it.

"We shall begin. **Hajime**"!

And then, Splinter fired arrows right near the Turtles. Donnie, Raph and Mikey all immediately felt the arrows swoosh right near their bodies and began erratically moving erratically, balancing their apples, oranges and eggs, and going, "whoa whoa whoa", constantly, all the while still balancing on the boards.  
Leonardo on the other hand, April noticed, seemed to be taking it in his stride, not complaining, or speaking. In all of their training sessions, April was completely amazed at how Leo, the blue masked, sword-wielding Turtle, seemed to be really focused constantly as he went through a training session. At heart, he was still a teenager, but it was completely amazing to see how much focus, how much intensity and how much seriousness he put into a training session.  
One night, April had asked Leo why he was so focused, even though it was just a training session, and Leonardo had given a small smile, possibly from remembering a past memory, as he had went, "_I'd once asked that to Splinter, around about when I was six. Gosh, it was a such a long time ago, I haven't thought about those memories in a long time. You see, I wasn't always a focused turtle back then. I wasn't as wild as Mikey, and I wasn't as rebellious as Raph, back then, but I didn't exactly take training seriously. One day, me and my brothers all failed a training course. Long story short, Splinter took me to the dojo to set the record straight for me, and told me to take my training seriously. I asked, 'Why, Master Splinter? It's just a training exercise'! And he replied to that, 'Leonardo, your training is not to be taken for granted. It is there to teach you the skills that will prove useful to you, if you are to become a ninja. If you do not take your training seriously, and if you start disregarding the real consequences of what would happen, if that training course had been real, then, you'll not only endanger your life, but you'll endanger the lives of your brothers'. I soon started taking my training very seriously after that. All this training we do, April? It's not just there for Splinter's entertainment or ours. It's so we can use the skills learnt when we really need them_".

Leonardo effortlessly managed to evade the arrows, seemingly making it look almost easy.

The three other turtles, meanwhile, were all still making things pretty tense, in April's eyes.  
Just when she thought an apple, an orange or an egg would fall on the carpet of the dojo, they'd manage to keep it balanced via a lot of effort, all the while still being balanced on their balancing boards.  
And so it went on and on...

* * *

"So, my sons. 3 minutes away from achieving a new record in balancing, all the while evading the arrows. You've accomplished 57 minutes, nearly a full long hour. But will you still be able to keep this up long enough, my sons"?

Raph, then asked, "Sensei, can I ask a question"?  
A sigh and, "go ahead, Raphael".  
"What's the whole point in this exercise? It's not like that Baxter Stockman guy will put us on balancing boards and fire arrows at us".

"As I said, Raphael, at the beginning of the lesson, this is about being able to perceive threats that you cannot see coming and how well you can avoid them. It is also a test on your senses other than your eyes. With these senses, you can be able to see attacks that no one else could".  
"Seems pointless, Sensei..."  
"What was that, Raphael"?  
"Nothin..."  
"I thought so. And regardless, this test should also help in being able to fight without your eyes".

Donnie opened up, "but why would we want to fight without our eyes? The eyes are the most important part of any species' body..."  
Mikey butted in, "Except for the Hanar, they haven't got any! Those poor old jellyfish..."  
"Urrrrr, no actually. Hanar do have eyes, but not eyes as we humans, asari, salarians, turians know it. And also, Hanar are not jellyfish! I've told you that before, Mikey"!  
"But if Blasto likes being called jellyfish, then this one says that Hanar are jellyfish"!

Then Donnie retaliated sarcastically, "This one states that your use of the term, "jellyfish", is a racist stereotype to Hanar..."  
Then Raph joined in, "This one, pretty much doesn't give a damn..."

SWOOSH!

The arrows, fired by Splinter, almost made Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael drop their apples, oranges and eggs on the carpet, and thus, they started trying, erratically, to regain their balance.

Leonardo, was still keeping his balance remarkably, but then suddenly, a shout from Kirby, April's father, interrupted everything, as he prepared dinner.

"Who wants pizza"?

"PIZZA?! WHERE"?!

And soon, all hell broke loose, as Mikey lost his balance completely, and the balancing board shot out from underneaf him, right towards, Raph, Donnie and Leo, who all started yelling, as they tumbled to the ground.

Along with the apples, oranges and eggs, which dropped on the floor. But the worse was the eggs, for the eggs splattered all over the carpet.

All four of the turtles were groaning in agony as they all recovered and tried picking themselves up off the floor, their legs and arms feeling very numb after almost 1 full hour.  
"Man, I'm starvin..."

At this comment, Donnie, Raph and Leo then burst out shouting, "**MIKEY**"!

The youngest turtle, still on the floor, smiled sheepishly, but this seemed to infuriate Raph as he got up and tried to grab him, forcing Leo and Donnie to rush in, grab him by the arms and force him back, as Raph was going, "Let me at im, Leo! He's had it coming"!.

"**YAME!**"

All four turtles snapped to attention to their sensei's shout and soon rushed to stand in front of their sensei, with Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo in that order, even though Donatello gave a glare at Michelangelo.

"My sons, that was truly disappointing. Especially on Michelangelo's part. To not keep focus at the most unexpected of times, is hugely disappointing..."  
Then Raph, rudely interrupted, "Yeah, woulda worked great if Mikey here', pointing a finger at Mikey, 'wouldn't get distracted by pizza every goddamn time. Every time you mention the word pizza, his mind settles on that and nothing else"!  
"Enough, Raphael".

Splinter walked over to Michelangelo, stood in front of him and looked at him, saying, "Michelangelo, you must have better focus..."  
"Yeah, I'm sorry, Sensei, but I just cannot resist pizza! It's smell is warm, fuzzy and lovely, it's taste is like no food in the galaxy, and..."  
"Don't interrupt me, Michelangelo"!

Slamming his walking stick onto the ground, Mikey jumped in surprised, gulped and only one thought was in his head, _Yikes, I'm in trouble_!

"And with your failure, my sons, you know what that means. All of you, clean up this mess at once, and no dinner for you four, until I'm convinced that this dojo is spotless"!  
A simultaneous groan, and Splinter walked off, out of the dojo.

April, meanwhile, was off to the side, as she had watched the whole thing and taken cover whilst balancing boards were shooting around the dojo.  
With a sympathetic look to the four Turtles, as they all went to go and get some cleaning kit, April left to go to the kitchen to see what was to eat. To think of it, she was actually pretty hungry too.

* * *

As Mikey picked up a cloth and a cleaning spray, Raph purposely shoved his way into Mikey, and gave an angry grunt, which Mikey pouted and said, "C'mon, Raph, lighten up"!  
"Lighten up? You just gave us all four the very so honorable job', putting on a sarcastic tone, 'of cleaning up after your mess. Again! And I'm sick to death of it all"!  
Leo interjected, "Hey, stop whining, Raph and get to work! The sooner we do this, the sooner we finish"!  
Then Donnie went, "Mikey, Raph's right".  
A shocked face on Mikey was produced as he replied, "He is"?  
"Yes! You do this constantly Mikey! As soon as we start to get headway on something, you just screw things up big time and we have to pay the price for it"!

Then Leo interjected, "Alright, enough, all of you! Let's get to work, finish up, ensure this dojo is clean, see if Splinter's happy, then we move on from this and forget about it. So, let's get a move on"!

Donnie responded with a roll of the eyes, and Mikey responded with a sigh, as they both then joined Leo and Raph, cleaning the dojo.

* * *

**Well, here we go. Second chapter of Mikey's Worth, setting things up for what eventually led Mikey to go up to the surface on his own.**

**Anyways, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can and see you next time!**


	3. Skateboarding in the Lair

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They namely belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.  
**

* * *

_"The Lair", the Sewers under Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, the Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 20th, 2183_.

After the Turtles had cleaned the dojo spotless, they awaited for Splinter, who inspected it and was satisfied, much to their relief.  
But, their relief was short lived, as their dinner was not pizza, but soup. Which they groaned at.

Ever since the Turtles had discovered pizza, and Mikey discovered how to make them via the extranet, Splinter had stated that they were to only eat pizza at dinner time, and thus, the Turtles always looked forward to dinner, and by extension, pizza, every day.

All four of the Turtles were feeling really down, but none more so than Mikey, who was so displeased at that he wasn't going to eat pizza tonight, that he didn't even notice the scowls from his brothers or the angry looks they were giving off towards him.  
Throughout the entire dinner, Mikey had not noticed his brothers' constantly doing this, and Leo, Donnie and Raph seemed to notice this so much, that they just gave up trying to even get Mikey to even notice their angry looks, and just settled on eating their soup.

* * *

It was now late in the hours and Mikey was feeling now, really in the dumps, so much that he decided to go into the former utility room, where April and her father were using as a bedroom to stay in, and break out his skateboard out of one of the cupboards, hoping to skate his sad feelings away.

The room was currently unoccupied, as April and her father were with Donnie in the workshop doing something to do with that OSD from Stocktronics, and Mikey took his chance.

Sneaking into the room, he began working through the cupboards, containing all sorts of childhood toys, action figures and junk, until eventually, Mikey found his skateboard.

A skateboard, nowadays, seemed like a very outdated thing to have, but one day, when Mikey was around 7, Donnie had gotten a balancing board, and started fixing wheels onto it, hoping to build a remote controlled "probe" with cameras, the reasons of which, Mikey couldn't really bother to remember.  
But when Mikey took the board with wheels for a joyride, he managed to had done a skateboarding trick that many back then, called a kickflip. Even though Mikey just took the save modestly, Donnie actually stated that a kickflip was usually a simple maneuver by skateboarders, and some actually don't do it right on their first go. Donnie, then introduced Mikey to skateboarding, which was both, helped Mikey in obtaining more flexibility and agility, but also proved to be distracting towards focusing on his ninjutsu.  
And plus, after the racket and mess that skateboarding made, Splinter had put his foot down and banned Mikey from skateboarding within the lair. Mikey had protested, saying that skateboarding was his life. But Splinter's response, was that there is no problem with having skateboarding as something to do in his spare time, but skateboarding is a privilege, not a right. And Splinter had further stated that if Mikey wanted to skateboard, he'd only need to skateboard outside of the lair. Thus, Michelangelo was able to establish a balance between ninjutsu and all of his 'hobbies' that he did in his spare time.

But refocusing his mind on the present, Mikey had taken the skateboard out of the cupboard, and now took it outside into the living room.  
And he set it down on the ground, before putting his right foot on it and propelling himself with his left foot. And thus, maneuvering the skateboard became second nature to Michelangelo.  
He shouldn't have been really be doing skateboarding around in the lair, this late at night whilst almost everyone was asleep, but Mikey reckoned that he'd skate around the lair for a bit, then skate out of the lair, then skate around until he decided it was time to go back to get some sleep.

Of course, what Splinter won't know, won't hurt him, right?

Soon enough, Mikey was in his rhythm as he performed all sorts of skateboarding maneuvers, starting up from really basic skateboarding moves, to progressing to really complex ones.  
Mikey was really so in it, that he completely failed to pay attention to his surroundings.

"MICHELANGELO"!

"Yikes"!

Mikey's shocked outburst and reactions, soon caused him to crash onto the ground with a "oww...", and then, when the skateboard hit his head, he responded with another "oww..."

"Michelangelo, do you have any idea what time it is"?

Looking up at his sensei, Mikey soon saw him leaning on his walking stick as he looked down on his youngest son with a very stern face.

"After hours, sensei"?  
"Yes. Whilst you were getting your skateboard out of the cupboards, I was in the midst of my meditations, which were so rudely interrupted by your skateboarding around the lair..."

Doors simultaneously opened, from Donnie's workshop to Leo and Raph's bedrooms, and three of Mikey's brothers now came out to see Mikey about to be giving a dressing down by Master Splinter.

Continuing, as if it had never happened, Splinter spoke, "Michelangelo, how many times do I have to tell you not to skateboard around the lair"?  
Donnie, leaning in the doorway of his workshop, with April and Kirby alongside him, then interjected, "Well, only once, and none since, Sensei".  
"I shouldn't have to tell you"!

Leo and Raph glared intensively at Mikey, but then Splinter went, "It is now becoming clear that normal punishments are not working on you, Michelangelo. So, from now on, all of you, my sons', indicating to Leo, Donnie and Raph as well, 'yes, you, my sons, will all share collective punishment. You seem to be all very distracted with the distractions of the surface world, so it would seem fitting that I take away a certain privilege".

Leo, Donnie, Raph and Mikey all shouted protests, but Splinter ignored them as he then shouted, "All of you, my sons, are grounded for a full week!"

There was a very stunned silence from everyone and Splinter slowly left to retreat into the dojo and into his room.  
Then, Leo, Donnie and Raph all turned to look at Mikey, with very angry looks that processed such intensity that it could burn, that Mikey seemed to shrink on himself and say only, "I'm sorry..."

But Leo rushed up to him and shouted, making Mikey flinch, "SORRY IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH, MICHELANGELO! IT'S BAD ENOUGH YOU MAKE MISTAKES AND DON'T PAY ATTENTION, BUT FOR US TO BE DRAGGED DOWN WITH YOU IS REALLY A NEW LOW, MIKEY"!  
"But..."  
Donnie then cut in, "Yeah, Leo's right, Mikey. You've got all sorts of potential in you, and you're just wasting them away".  
"But..."  
Then Raph joined in the argument, "All those pranks, all that lazing around, it just goes to show that you'd love nothing more than to be a lazy prankster"!  
"That's not true"!

Donnie retaliated, "It is, Mikey! Every time you're in the dojo, I just wonder if you're really that unfocused or you'd rather actually be wasting your time on pranks, skateboarding, eating or whatever the shell it is that you do"!  
Leo continued on, "Exactly! One day, you're going to get us all killed! Being a ninja isn't for fun, Mikey, I'd really wish you'd take it more seriously, but to be honest, I'm not going to waste my breath anymore".

"But, but, I'll take it seriously, I promise! Seriously, I promise! I'll be a real total ninja like you all guys. Just don't be angry, please! I love you guys, and you love me, your brother"!

What Raph said next, would really hurt Mikey, as he scoffed and stated, "Really? Well, you've got a funny way of showing it".  
Then Leo, Donnie and Raph, now facing close to Mikey, said more.  
"You're just a hinderance, Mikey, all dragging us down with you".  
"Donnie's right. You're not someone who'd I trust my life with next time we face a dangerous situation".  
"What Leo's saying, Mikey, is that you're a liability to us all".  
"A useless tag-along and a disgrace to ninjutsu".

But what Leo would say, would be the final straw.  
"And what's worse, is that I'm pretty much ashamed to even call you our brother"!

Mikey's face was filled with very heavy hurt and shock, as tears started to well up in his eyes, and he soon gave off a biotic glow as his biotics flared. Everyone present now started backing away,  
But nothing happened, as Mikey started crying and then ran, shoving Raph away, barreling past April and Kirby, and running out of the lair, ignoring Splinter's pleading for him to come back. Splinter had stopped and listened to his sons unleash their anger at Michelangelo, and was most highly disappointed in them in how they conducted themselves.

Raph, now with a hurt look on his face, made to go after Mikey, but Leo, who now had an apologetic and saddened face, put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head, indicating a silent message to Raph to give Mikey some space.  
After all, in Leo's mind, as well as Donnie's, Mikey would just go to some secluded area in the sewers, stay around, come to terms with what just happened, get over it and return to the lair.

* * *

**At first, I had initially planned for the scenes in the lair to just have April's perspective, with April being woken up by Mikey skateboarding around the lair, then Splinter grounds the Turtles and Mikey runs up to the surface after his brothers round criticism after critiscm at him, but it didn't work out well, so I worked up the balancing in the dojo chapter to sort of start Leo, Donnie and Raph developing a ground basis for their anger which would only be intensified by being grounded, hence an actual reason why Leo, Donnie and Raph would say those things. And I mean, I figured that if I had gone on the original plan, with April's perspective, there'd be no reasoning for Leo, Donnie and Raph to say those things to Mikey unless he did something wrong earlier, so I thought of the balancing board in the dojo exercise, which Mikey screws up and causes the others to miss a pizza dinner, then after Splinter grounds the Turtles for Mikey skateboarding the lair, the Turtles get really angry at Mikey, thus Mikey gets upset and goes up to the surface.**

**So anyways, don't forget to leave a review and see you next time.**


	4. Setting Things Into Motion

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.**

* * *

_Warning: This chapter contains some sexual content. If you are uncomfortable, you might want to go somewhere else._

* * *

_Mid-Ward District, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 20th, 2183_.

Mikey was crying, even though no one could really hear him whilst he was on the rooftops above the busy streets of the Citadel, still reeling from all the feelings for him, that his brothers had thrown right at him.  
His brothers' words had really stung and hurt Mikey, and Mikey couldn't really find anything to disprove them, that he was valuable to them, as part of the team, or as their brother.  
Mikey had never felt so upset in his life, ever since when he was little. But that thought prompted Mikey to shake off those thoughts pretty quickly.

_Man, Leo, Don and Raph are right, I'm just an annoying, useless tag along_...  
Sniffing, as his tears soaked his bandana, then trailed down his face, Mikey continued sitting, with his head in his arms, his arms on his legs, all the while unaware that he was being watched from a far away rooftop as well as a security camera on the rooftop that went on it's normal routine.

* * *

_Director David Bishop's Private Room and Office, Terra Nova Commonwealth Bank, Upper-Ward District, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 20th, 2183_.

"And you're certain of this find, Bishop"?

The Illusive Man took a drag out of his cigarette and exhaled as he looked on the holographic projection of David Bishop, the Director of Olympus Cell.

"Without a doubt, sir. It is one of the Turtles, and we have an opportunity here..."

The Illusive Man held up a hand, and Bishop fell silent, awaiting for his superior to speak.

"Yes. We do have an opportunity here. And not just for learn more about them. The OSD is still in their hands, that much I am certain of, as well as Kirby O'Neil and April O'Neil. Yes, I see an opportunity here. Here are your orders, Bishop. I'm sending Leng and Rasa to report to you, they've been on standby for such an eventuality, and then, I want this Turtle captured, and brought to a secure holding facility, where our select team of scientists will examine it closely, without dissecting it of course. Have Webber form a Capture Team, then once you brief Leng and Rasa, have them sent to be a part of the CT. Then, once this turtle is in our hands, we'll see about a negotiation for the OSD".

Frowning, Bishop asked, before realization came down on him, "But how will we... Ah, yes. I see what you're going for, sir. If we capture this Turtle, and I stress if, the other Turtles might come looking for him, and thus, come to us, and we'll bargain for the OSD in exchange for the Turtle's life".  
The Illusive Man, gave off one of his very rare smiles, and said "Exactly. I knew I made the right choice, picking you as Director. And we'll not only bargain for the OSD. Kirby and April O'Neil will also be bargained for this Turtle's life. And then, once the OSD and the O'Neils are in our hands, let them go and we'll leave them be".  
"And if they refuse"?

The Illusive Man was silent for a moment, then he went, "Oh, and David, bring in this Turtle alive and in one piece. No killing. Our scientists need to, at least, have a live specimen to work on. Remember that".  
Despite the fact that the Illusive Man hadn't answered his question, Bishop knew it was not wise to press his boss, so he simply went, "Understood".

Cutting off the QEC, the Illusive Man then took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled.

_Well, then, Turtle, the hunt is on_..., thought the Illusive Man, as he went about to notify Kai Leng and Rasa to report to Director Bishop.

* * *

_An Apartment in Kithoi Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 20th, 2183_.

Within the one bed apartment, clothes, underwear and footwear were all over the floor, having been thrown in the heat of excitement and with not a care in all the galaxy if something got hit by hit, evidenced by a knocked over lamp on the table next to their bed as well as the other table facing the bed.  
And within the sheets of the bed, a 6'2" man with a mixture of Chinese and Russian/Slavic heritage (Chinese being the more dominant of the two), messy hair and a scarred but built up body, was laying down on his back, with a woman straddling his crotch. The woman had some slight darker skin, indicating of an African-American heritage, and a fine, slim body.

Rasa was also using her hands to steady herself as she rocked back and forth along with Kai Leng, all the while slowly panting, as did Leng.

Ever since they had been sent to this apartment, under the cover of a couple on their vacation, 'on standby', as the Illusive Man put it, Kai Leng and Rasa had been awaiting a call, but after having gone to dinner at a restaurant, had gone back to their apartment, to make love.  
But then, two datapads began beeping.

And both Leng and Rasa groaned at having their love-making interrupted, but soon, they withdrew, knowing that 'duty calls', as Leng put it often whenever this happened.  
"Sorry, Rasa, gotta take this".  
Grunting and rolling off Leng, Rasa then pulled the bed sheets to cover her naked body, as Leng soon pulled up his boxer shorts from his ankles, and then left the covers.

Walking over to the datapads, Leng picked both of them up, and then walked over to Rasa, handing her her datapad.  
She looked at it and read it, as Leng read his, and soon, Rasa's eyes widened, and then glanced over to Leng, who was slightly grinning.

Rasa then asked, "It's true then. These 'Turtles'. One of them, at least. And we're going to be involved, somehow".

Leng looked at her and replied, "Yes. And anyway, I thought I told you about them and what happened at Stocktronics".  
"Well, yeah, I know, but I was still skeptical of the evidence. But I suppose it doesn't matter now. We've got their location, and we'll have to report to Bishop".  
"Yeah. Well, anyways, let's get a move on. Duty calls. It's a long way from here to Tayseri, and I don't think Bishop would appreciate it if we're late".

And soon, the two occupants of the apartment began getting themselves dressed as they began readying to report to Director Bishop, all the way in Tayseri Ward.

* * *

**Well, well, well. Looks like things are gonna get very interesting here. Cerberus is on the move against Mikey and Kai Leng, along with his assigned partner, Rasa, is coming into play.  
What's coming next chapter? I dunno, but I think I'm gonna go to the lair for the next chapter. Nothing's for certain, but anyways, I hope you're enjoying the story so far.  
Also, how do you feel in regards to Season 3, so far? Well, I'm still anxiously awaiting the next episode, but I think they're taking a break until next year, so yeah, a bit of a while before we'll see a new episode, I dunno, but anyways, my favourite episodes of Season 3 so far, are "Within the Woods", "In Dreams" and "Race With The Demon". "Buried Secrets" and "The Croaking" were alright, I suppose, but they sorta reused the same scenarios we've seen in previous seasons, like 'no one believing Mikey', and 'Mikey not feeling appreciated', hence Mikey-centric episodes.**

**Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Mikey-centric episodes, for the argument could be made that this story that I'm writing, is a Mikey-centric story, but I think the show shouldn't heavily rely on them too much.**

**Anyways, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can and see you next time!**


	5. Briefing at the Bank

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.**

* * *

_Terra Nova Commonwealth Bank, Upper-Ward District, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 20th, 2183_.

A skycar, having just broken off from a traffic lane of many skycars, approached the car park in front of the building entrance, found an empty spot to set down, hovered over it, then slowly and vertically landed before coming to a complete standstill.

The doors opened, and out of the driver's seat, Kai Leng, who was dressed in civilian clothes, as was Rasa. Of course, they couldn't just turn up wearing Cerberus uniforms, so civilian clothing was usually the dress code for Cerberus operatives walking amongst the Citadel.  
Entering the bank, Leng and Rasa followed the routine they were meant to go through in order to see Director Bishop in his private room and office. They approached a reception desk, with a woman sitting behind it.  
"Hello, how can I help you"?

Even though this woman was a member of Cerberus, she had never seen the two of them, for they had not been up to Olympus Cell itself for all the time they've been on standby. And her assigned role, was to be the guide for all Cerberus members, in order for them to get to the Olympus Cell facility, located on one of the floors, or even to the private room and office of Director David Bishop.

And following the instructions given to them, Kai Leng and Rasa produced 2 yellow cards, with 3 blood-red stripes and showed it to her. Her immediate body posture, which had been displaying boredom, immediately perked up as it soon turned to seriousness. Nodding her head at them both, she then indicated to Leng and Rasa to follow her as they then moved out of the lobby, through a corridor, then made a left-turn, seemingly at a dead-end.  
But when they reached the end, the receptionist got out a card and held it up in alignment with the eyes of a painting of a doberman. Then, a part of the wall to the right of the painting, quickly slid upwards to reveal an elevator, which Leng and Rasa quickly got in. The door slid back down, making it reappear to others that it was a dead end.  
Soon enough, the receptionist then moved to go back to her desk.

* * *

Within the elevator, there were no buttons, but it immediately went down two floors.

When the door opened, Leng and Rasa exited to see that the room in question, contained people on computer terminals and people around holographic tables. One of those people around one particular holographic tables, was Director David Bishop, who looked up and saw the two of them approach the table.

"Ah, Leng, Rasa! The Illusive Man stated that you were on your way. You've got here much quicker than expected. Anyway, you've no doubt been notified on the full specifics of what's going on"?  
They didn't really respond back, but Rasa then went, "Some details, but not all of them, Director Bishop".

Nodding his head, Bishop continued, "Ah, of course. Well, anyways, I'll give you the brief. One of the Turtles that we've been looking for, it's been spotted in the Mid-Ward section of Tayseri Ward, and we have an opportunity to capture it alive, for our scientists to study, and for an opportunity to bargain for the OSD. Jack Webber, my second in command, is forming a capture team, and their objective, is to capture this Turtle. Alive and in one piece".  
Leng remained silent and thus, Rasa took the stead and said simply, "And me and Leng, we're part of this capture team, right"?

"Exactly right, Rasa. You, specifically, are going to be providing technical support to Webber's capture team, whilst, Leng, you're the backup to Webber's capture team".  
When Leng was about to protest, Bishop held his hands and said, "I don't doubt your abilities at all, Mr Leng. That's why I've got you on backup. Because whilst some are sure that they'll be able to defeat this Turtle, and take it in with no time at all, well, I'm more doubtful. So, if the capture team fails or is struggling to capture this Turtle, you're to come into play, Mr Leng. Is that understood"?  
A smirk, and "Perfectly, Director".

* * *

After being given additional details and enquiring further on the situation, Kai Leng and Rasa left the Terra Nova Commonwealth Bank, got onto their skycar, and left for the coordinates of where Operative Jack Webber was assembling a capture team. Also, Bishop had given Rasa a datapad containing orders signed by him, detailing their roles in the capture team, to give to Jack Webber.

The skycar launched vertically off and veered off towards the Mid-Ward District.

* * *

**Well, sorry for the short chapter, I was planning on taking it to the lair, but when I was coming up to it, the three Turtles, Splinter, April and Kirby have gone off to bed, and I'd have to wait until the next day for them to come to terms with what happened with Mikey.  
So, sorry to all of you who were expecting some scenes in the lair, but that'll come sometime.**

**Anyways, I don't think I'll get another chapter out before the New Year (but a one shot TMNT story might be upcoming, who knows?), so in any case, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!  
2014, has been a great year for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fan like me, I won't lie. And it's been one great year. So, here's to 2015!**

**So, anyways, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can, and see you next time!**


	6. The Hunt is On

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.  
**

* * *

_Mid-Ward District, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 20th, 2183_.

Mikey had stopped crying, but his bandana was still soaked with tears, so he took it off his face and wrapped it around his belt at some point whilst venting, as so he wouldn't lose it.

He had vented all his sadness whilst on the rooftop, for the last 3 hours, and was so tired, that he moved off to a secluded spot, to sit down, back against the wall and positioned himself to sleep comfortably, for Mikey reckoned he'd get some rest before waking up and returning back to the lair.

However, this would prove to be a mistake, as he was still being watched by Cerberus operatives, who were keeping a close watch on him. Any movement, and they'd report it up the chain to the Capture Team.

* * *

_Capture Team assembly point, Abandoned warehouse, Mid-Ward District, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 20th, 2183_.

Jack Webber smiled. The Turtle was sleeping. Excellent.

This would provide him with enough time to finish off any final preparations for the Capture Team. Despite it only being one target, Jack always found it useful to be prepared.

A short while ago, came the arrival of Kai Leng, and a woman calling herself Rasa, who gave him a datapad from Bishop, detailing that Leng was to be providing backup, in case the Capture Team failed, and Rasa was to be technical support.

Even though he didn't like sudden changes at the last moment, and this very much seemed like one, Webber knew that this came down direct from the Illusive Man himself, and thus, he couldn't dispute that order.  
So instead, he smiled at Leng and Rasa, and said "Well, alright then. Welcome to the Capture Team. Anyways, get yourself settled in as we..."  
But Webber was interrupted by the report from the observers, who were keeping close surveillance on the Turtle.

And with that report giving him enough time to prepare his forces, he set about getting the Capture Team ready and waiting. He then had Kai Leng sent down to the Armory to get himself kitted out, whilst he had Rasa take a console and put on a headset, ready to give any backup to Leng, who'd she be in constant communication with.

The Capture Team was consisted of 2 5-man teams, wearing very dark grey Heavy Freedom/Hoplite armor with absolutely no markings on them at all.  
Their Gorgon assault rifles were equipped with Stun Rounds, for lethal rounds were forbidden in this case.  
For backup, they had suppressed Harpy pistols (with Stun Rounds), shock batons and pepper-sprays on their persons.  
But when they eventually did get their hands on the target, they had physical restraints with them, plasticuffs, holocuffs and an experimental physical restraint designed for the restraining of a alien subject to be captured.

Kai Leng meanwhile, suited up into a set of prototype Cerberus armor equipped with a right palm blaster, that had just entered service. And of course, Kai Leng was equipped with not just a Rosenkov Materials Karpov pistol with a suppressor and Stun Rounds, but also, was equipped with a single Monomolecular Blade that was in the style of a Ninjato, the straightened version of the Katana, which it was often mistaken for.  
During Kai Leng's stent in the Alliance, he took up Kendo and became a very good Kendoka, so much that he participated in the Alliance Military's Kendo Championship, and came up on top to become champion, in 2175, before his acceptance into the Interplanetary Combatives Academy. However, he was struck off from that after his dishonorable discharge the next year, after murdering a Krogan in a bar.  
But despite being taken off the list, Kai Leng's prowess in Kendo hadn't faltered even slightly, and he had managed to put it to good use in Cerberus, welding a monomolecular blade for the various wet-work jobs that Cerberus, and by extension, the Illusive Man, gave him.

And after finishing up, his earpiece squawked, Rasa on the other end.  
"Leng, the Capture Team's assembled and moving out to the skytrucks. You better get to the skycar and follow on".

Leng acknowledged and, once he exited the warehouse, he saw 2 Skytrucks being loaded up with 5 men in the back cargo hold each.

Watching the Skytrucks depart, once fully loaded, Leng headed over to the Skycar where he had parked it. Entering the car, he then settled himself in, made the car lift off vertically and soon, Leng followed on.

His earpiece squawked again, Rasa's voice again saying, "Leng, Webber's giving a prep talk to the Capture Team. I'll patch you through".  
And Jack Webber's voice soon came through his earpiece, "Alright everyone, listen up! Our orders are simple, to capture the subject alive. You all know who it is, you've been briefed. Anyways, we are enroute to the target's location. It's sleeping at the moment so we should be able to get the jump on it and take it in. But however, I must warn you all. Do not underestimate your opponent. You may never know what sort of tricks they might have under their sleeve. Anyway, remember your training, don't do anything stupid, and no lethal takedowns. We need this Turtle alive for our scientists. Anyone have any questions"?  
A reply of "No, sir", and Webber finished off, "Alright then. Let's get to work. Webber out".

* * *

The skytruck travelled and soon, once they were near the location, they landed on the rooftops near the target location, and began moving silently, all covering each other, moving with purpose, as they headed towards the target.

Kai Leng meanwhile, landed on another rooftop, as he was backup, and not to intervene unless the situation called for it.  
Getting out of his skycar, he got into one of the secret compartments of the skycar's rear seats and revealed an dissembled Rosenkov Materials Volkov sniper rifle, with it's main barrel and scope unattached to the main weapon.  
Picking it up, Leng got the barrel and slid it down, attaching it to the receiver, then fixing it on.  
Then came on the scope.  
All of this was straightforward and thus, Leng had a Volkov sniper rifle at the ready.

But before he could get into position, Leng got something to help further with camouflage. In another compartment in his skycar, was a urban camouflaged canvas sheet, which Leng got out and carried along with the Volkov sniper rifle. Getting to the edge of the rooftop, he set down the rifle on the rooftop edge, whilst he threw the canvas cover on top of him covering him, and providing some helpful camouflage for him and to break up his silhouette.

Looking through the scope, he saw the Turtle, and it was true. He was sleeping, seemingly oblivious to that he was vulnerable in this way. And the Capture Team was still heading onto him. And they weren't too far away from the target now. Only one rooftop away.

* * *

Mikey was sleeping, but that was about to change, as the Capture Team whispered in low voices to get ready.  
Readying their Gorgon rifles, they soon jumped the rooftop onto the target location.  
Approaching slowly, the first team leader ordered 5 men to maintain their distance, whilst he had 4 men accompany him to try and restrain the Turtle.

But this would prove unfortunate, as soon, a very loud thud, of a stone hitting metal.  
Mikey's eyes opened very suddenly, and he got up quickly, soon eventually seeing that there were people, with guns!

Silence ensured, and no one made a move, until Mikey slowly raised his hand and went nervously, "Whatdup"?

And soon, all hell broke loose, as the Capture Team sprung into action. Getting out their shock batons, they pressed a button, causing it to hum. And they rushed at Mikey, trying to incapacitate him, as they swung their shock batons trying to hit him. But Mikey still had his twin nunchaku on him.  
So he unslung them and began swinging it around in a twirling fashion, and started glowing the familiar blue aura, indicating to the Capture Team, that he was a biotic.

One of them charged and tried to hit Mikey, but Mikey swung his right nunchaku, all the whilst, glowing, and the nunchaku made contact with the chest piece of the man's armor, which caused him to be knocked back, and crash into the others behind him.  
But Mikey soon saw 5 more men maintaining their distance, and once they saw that he had dispatched their compatriots, they got out their assault rifles and aimed them right at Mikey, firing at him.

"Yikes"!

Mikey took drastic action to avoid the rounds hitting him, but felt them skimming past him.

Summoning some biotic energy, Mikey jumped up and flicked his hand, during the motion that biotics called 'Throw'.  
It wasn't very strong, for Mikey's biotic amps weren't top of the notch, but that didn't matter much, for the effect of making the gunmen stumble and fall to the floor, achieved the time he needed to get away.

Without any thought on where to go, Mikey started sprinting to another rooftop, just as the men started to get up.

The team leaders then shouted "Subject's getting away! After it"!

* * *

Leng, having seen enough, decided to move on, and thus, started to pack away his Volkov sniper rifle and canvas sheet in the skycar. Then, as he got into the driver's seat, and got it to lift off vertically, his earpiece squawked.

"Leng, the subject..."  
"Is escaping, I know, Rasa. Relax, I'm on it. The Capture Team's intact, and are pursuing the Turtle. And so am I".  
Rasa seemed to think that Leng wanted to have the Turtle killed, so she reminded him, "We need it alive, Leng".  
"I know, Rasa. But don't worry, I've got it under control. I'll be maintaining a close watch, and I'll step in when it becomes necessary. Leng out".

Closing that conversation, Leng drove the car, slowly, maintaining visual contact with the whole situation, the Turtle now running away from the Capture Team that was hot on his heels.

_So, you think you can get away, do you? Well, the hunt is on, Turtle, and I look forward to being the one to end it_.

* * *

**Welcome to 2015! Hope you've had a Happy New Year, guys!**

**And finally, I've managed to get around to the beginning of the epic confrontation.  
Now, I hope to get around to the Turtles in the lair as they awake the next morning, whilst the hunt is still ongoing.**

**I particularly look forward to writing up Mikey vs Kai Leng confrontation.**

**Anyways, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can and see you next time.**


	7. The Morning Afterwards

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect does not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.  
**

* * *

_Leonardo's Room, "The Lair", the Sewers under Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

At first came the groaning as Leonardo slowly came out of his slumber from the covers of his bed.  
"Urgh..."

Then, his eyes slowly opened and in vision, came the neat, tidy confides of his bedroom, his bookshelf, his desk and his trunk ever present.

Pulling off the covers of his bed, Leo swung his legs out of the bed, placed his feet on the ground and got out, to walk over to the desk, where a single chair stood, his wrappings, his elbow and knee pads, his belt and scabbards (containing his katana), and his blue bandana all on the head rest.

Putting on his wrappings firstly, on his feet, then his forearms and hands, Leo made sure that they were secure and snug, then came the elbow and knee pads, and, his blue bandana, which he managed to secure snugly on his face.

But before he put on the belt and scabbards', Leonardo did his routine 'inspection' of his katana. Firstly, his longest one.

Gripping the hilt with his right hand, and the scabbard in his left, Leonardo swiftly drew the katana out with a nice, smooth motion, and inspected the gleaming, shiny finish of the blade.  
Even though it looked very clean, Leonardo was adamant on cleaning up his katana, both long and short.  
In fact, every night before he went to bed, and every morning after he got up, way before anyone else got up, Leonardo would do this.

So he went over to his trunk, which he propped open the single catch on the lid, opening the trunk and revealing a huge ton of stuff that Leonardo had fitted into his trunk, but on top of that, was his cleaning kit.

Picking it up and setting it down on his bed, he opened it, revealing a choji oil spray, a uchiko ball, and two cloths, a wiping cloth and a cleaning cloth.  
Then, sitting down on his bed, next to the cleaning kit, Leonardo set to work.

* * *

10 minutes later, and both Donatello and Raphael were waking up.

And as usual, after they had gotten up and gotten their gear on, they left their bedrooms to have breakfast, and when they got to the kitchen, found Leonardo there, standing patiently, as usual, along with Master Splinter, who was sternly awaiting Donatello and Raphael.

Donnie noticed that something was up, and worked his brain around to what was the problem, until he came around to what happened last night, with Mikey and their reaction to their punishment.  
But Donnie decided to confirm what was going through his mind, and thus, asked Splinter "Urmm, Sensei? What seems to be the problem"?

Splinter then replied "My sons, I am most disappointed in you all. Particularly in regards to your youngest brother".  
Yep, Splinter definitely wanted to talk about what happened last night.

But Raph however, curtly replied, "Sensei, Mikey did something he shouldn't, as usual, but you didn't need to punish us because of what he did. He, on his own. No one else. He's the one who should be punished! Not us"!  
"That is enough, Raphael! My sons, you said a lot of things to Michelangelo last night, and I do wonder, did you really mean all of the things you've said"?  
"Yes"!  
"Are you sure, Raphael? Do something just this once and that is, think for one good long moment, and then give me your answer, did you really mean it all"?  
"But sensei, he had it coming..."  
"But nothing, Raphael. And please take a good long while to think, and don't make me make that into an order".

A growl from Raph, and he seemed like he was still going to stick with his original answer, but eventually, his angry face gradually softened into a face of regret.  
"I...No".

"I thought so, Raphael".  
"And I really didn't mean to say all those things to him, I just was so angry".

Leonardo spoke up, with regret on his face as well, "We all were Raph, including me", and faced Master Splinter to address him, "Master Splinter, I myself, was completely unprofessional in how I reacted, and I take full responsibility..."  
"Leonardo, I accept your apology, and I agree. You, as well as your brothers were completely unprofessional. And now you'll need to make up to Michelangelo, for I have no doubt that he feels unappreciated by all of you".

"Urgh, I feel that's going to be much easier said than done. I mean, out of all those things we've said last night, mine must have been the absolute worst".

Splinter interrupted Leo's self-loathing thoughts, and said "I think I better go and get Michelangelo".  
Donatello spoke up first, "But is he even here in the first place? Remember, he left last night for the sewers".  
However, Raph assured Donnie, "I'm pretty sure Mikey just went into the sewers to cry out for a bit, have some space between us and him, then return back to the lair. I mean, it's not like he's stupid enough to go up to the surface..."

A stern glare from Splinter and "Enough, Raphael. I'll go and get Michelangelo. Wait here all of you".

As Splinter left the kitchen, silence was ever-present for a good while, leaving three turtles to think about what they had done to their little brother, but hopeful that they could resolve it soon enough.

* * *

"Boys"!

_Uh-oh, something's wrong_..., thought Leonardo, and soon, all three Turtles rushed to their master, who was now outside Mikey's room, which it's door was open, revealing a very empty room.

"My sons, I sense that something is wrong here. Michelangelo has not returned. It is either that he is still hiding away in the sewers or..."  
"Or he's gone up to the surface"!

A sigh and "Yes, Raphael. Michelangelo must have been really hurt by the things you said to him last night. It really must have made him feel really unappreciated".

Leonardo then spoke up, "We have to go and get him back"!

Silence, as Splinter closed his eyes and thought for a bit, his sons awaiting his decision.

A heavy sigh, and "Go. Go now, my sons. Find your brother. And bring him back home".

All three turtles bowed and shouted, "Hai, Sensei"!

And soon, Raph and Donnie rushed to their bedrooms, to grab their weapons and kit, which just left Leo with Splinter, who saw the look of concern on his eldest son and said "Leonardo, do not worry. You will find Michelangelo. I am sure you will".

And despite hoping for a smile and 'thanks Sensei', Leonardo looked even more troubled as he looked off to the side, with a worried look on his face now.  
"My son, what seems to be the matter"?

"Eh? Oh sorry, sensei, it's just a feeling that something's wrong with Mikey. I just can't pin it down to what. But you're right, sensei. I'll find him".

A smile and, "I know you will, Leonardo".

Then, Raph and Donnie, came out from their bedrooms, with weapons and kit on them, and Leo saw them, eventually starting to take the lead, "Alright, let's move"!

* * *

**Welcome to an happy new year everyone!**

**So, Leo and his brothers are going up to search for Mikey, who's being pursued by Cerberus. Boy, are they going to be in for a surprise.**

**Sorry for the late chapter everyone. I had initially written up this chapter, but it just didn't click right to me, and worse of all, when I was working on it, the browser shut down, and I had to start from where I began to start with!**  
**And of course, I had to get things moving, to get the real plot of the story going. And even though I've managed to finish it, I'm a bit convinced that this chapter seemed a bit rushed. Sorry if that is apparently so everyone.**

**And anyway, in other Turtle news Vision Quest turned out to be one of my new favourite episodes. It was so awesome, and I cannot wait for what will come in the Return to New York episode! Man, I'm so excited!**

**Anyways, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can, and see you next time!**


	8. The Car Lot

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.  
**

* * *

_Mid-Ward District, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

From up on the rooftops, above the unsuspecting citizens down below on the streets of the Citadel's Tayseri Ward, one teenage mutant ninja turtle was being relentlessly pursued by armed men.  
A really large gap in between two buildings, was ahead, but Michelangelo wasn't going to let any big gaps stop him.

But, however, Mikey had been running for quite a while without taking a breather. Not that the men chasing him would have let him, of course, but still, Mikey was now starting to feel a bit fatigued and worn down, with heavy breaths.  
And of course, as Mikey ran for the gap, to jump across, his strength wasn't strong enough and he hit the edge, and was rapidly sliding off it, his hands trying to find something to grip, anything!

Eventually though, Mikey gripped something, and even though not knowing what it was, took his chance to pull as hard he could and vault himself over the edge to land on the rooftop.

Looking back, the armed men stopped before they could jump over.  
Taking aim at Mikey, they fired their Stun weapons. But of course, Mikey had agility on his side, so he leapt out of the way, and soon started to move off, running from the armed men who were out of reach.

And once they saw that they could not be able to jump across, the Capture Team leader then started directing his men to head for an nearby rooftop, that was empty, for a pickup. And he radioed for some skytrucks to pick them up.

And once that was done, he received a message on his omni-tool. He was expecting it to be a reply from the skytrucks, but instead, it was from Kai Leng, who was in a skycar, keeping overwatch.

_Target moving North East. Will continue to trail and provide updates.  
_-_Operative KL_

After acknowledging the message, the Capture Team leader then moved on to get to the pickup, whilst Leng was observing the Turtle from his skycar hovering, lucky that the Turtle was totally focused on running away from the Capture Team, and not being aware of the skycar.

And in the skycar itself, Leng smiled to himself, as he continued to maneuver the skycar and keep track of the Turtle, awaiting to see if the Capture Team would be successful.

* * *

Mikey, having gained some distance from the Capture Team, now realized that he had no idea on where he was going.

At first, he set about getting to the lair, and getting help, so he ran into the direction of the lair for around a good 5 minutes, until a skytruck hovering near-by, made him realize that if he continued to head for the lair, he'd be putting his home in danger!

_Damn it, Mikey! Think! Don't put your bros in danger, man! Lead them away_!

So, he completely went into a different direction, towards the Factory District. He had no idea why he picked it, but it was pretty much the only place he could think of to go to.

But soon, as he went through a closed down car lot, entering via chance, an side window left open, to cut down on the time to get to the factory district, Mikey was feeling really fatigued, and went to rest his legs and try to breath normally before he moved on.

But as he went over to a parked, empty skycar, and rested on it's side, Mikey soon came to a thought that sprung up to him. He knew he couldn't lead these guys to the lair, but he just remembered that he had his omni-tool with him. Yes, he could call the guys to get help!

Getting his left arm out, activating his omni-tool, Mikey soon put in a call for Leonardo, waiting for him to pick up.

_C'mon, Leo, pick up_...

* * *

Webber, overlooking the big screen in front of him, whilst he stood within his command center at the assembly point, then heard Rasa from one of the consoles calling over to him with something that had got her attention.  
"Webber. The Turtle's making a call via his omni-tool. Most likely to call for help. Shall I block the signal"?

Thinking it over, Jack Webber then had an idea, and made his decision.

"No, Rasa. Let him make the call. If he's making a call to the rest of the Turtles, I think we've got another opportunity here. And inform Leng of this development. Then ask him if he'll relish the challenge of four Turtles".  
"Understood. But shouldn't the Capture Team be informed"?  
"No. I'm sure they'll be able to capture one Turtle before the rest come to his rescue. But if they do, well, sacrifices have to be made in the name of achieving results. And I'm sure Leng can handle the Turtle, don't you"?  
"Yes, I'm pretty sure he can. So will that be all"?  
"Just one thing. Where's the Capture Team now"?  
"They've just landed on the building opposite the car lot, and are on their way to move through the car lot and sweep the area"  
"Excellent, Rasa. Keep me updated".

* * *

_C'mon, c'mon_...

But as Mikey awaited for his call to Leo, he then remembered a piece of advice from Donnie some time ago, on omni-tools. Even though Mikey had blanked out much of the lesson, he remembered one crucial thing.  
If you're not getting a good enough signal, then get higher and see if the signal gets clearer.  
Yes, his call must be taking too long because his signal wasn't clear.  
So, Mikey resolved to get to higher ground and see if that theory proved right.

After getting up, Mikey looked for a door to get up to the upper floors, and saw one right at the back, near a desk with a computer and a chair. But it was locked, with a red holopanel telling him exactly that. So he went over to the computer, and turned it on.

_Oh shell_...

The computer was password protected.

_Oh, man, oh man, what do I do now? What would Donnie do_?

Obviously, he'd would have tried to figure out some technobabble to work his way around the password, but Mikey wasn't exactly a genius of Donnie's calibre (and Mikey swore he could hear Raph's voice saying that is a major underestimatement), so he just scratched his head and paced around, agitated, trying to figure out a way.

But then he was interrupted by a beeping noise on his omni-tool. Marvelously, the call came through.

"_Mikey, is that you_"?

And before Leo could say anymore, Mikey went, "Leo! I need your help! Come quickly"!  
"_Whoa whoa whoa, slow down, Mikey, calm down, what's the matter_..."  
"Some armed dudes are pursuing me! Guys in armor with guns and electric sticks! They attacked me and are pursuing me"!  
"_Mikey, calm down! Just, take a deep breath, calm down and tell me where you are. Me and the others will come straight for you and help you out. Where are yo_u"?  
"In some car lot somewhere on the Ward".  
"_Wait, that's it_"?  
"Well, I dunno, what'd you think I'm more worried about"!?  
A sigh on the other end, and Mikey could sense that Leo was about to speak, but Mikey soon heard the door open.  
"Got company Leo! Gotta go"!  
"_Mikey, wait_"!

But Mikey cut the call, and reached for his two nunchaku on, soon glowing a blue biotic aura and twirling his nunchaku around.  
Turning around, the armed men were there, entering the room, and they wasted no time in shooting their stun guns on sight.

And immediately, Mikey wasted no time, yelling a battle cry and jumping right into the fray against them.

* * *

"_The Capture Team has made contact with the subject_".  
"Hmmmmm..."

As Kai Leng set down his skycar on the roof of the building opposite from the car lot, he then went to the edge of the building and spotted the car lot.  
And judging from the movement within the tinted windows, as well as the glowing blue color that Leng knew, came from a biotic, and he knew that the Turtle was a biotic, things were definitely not going well for the Capture Team.

"Rasa? Any news on the Capture Team"?  
A sigh and "_Patching you into their comms. That'll give you some idea, Leng_".

And soon, his comm channel was filled with noise. And it became obvious that the Capture Team was losing, with many of them being hit by the Turtle's biotic hits.  
This continued on for one full minute, until silence, and afterwards, he switch his comms to inform Rasa of the development.

"Capture Team has failed. I repeat, Capture Team has failed".  
A sigh and "_Just as I suspected._ _Understood, Leng. Hold on, I've got Webber on the line. Patching you through_".

"_Leng. Rasa informed me as soon as she started losing contact with the Capture Team. Alright. You yourself are to go in and resolve the situation with this Turtle. Also, remember to expect company. The Turtle called for backup from the other Turtles. But I must remind you that they must be taken in alive. Is that understood_"?  
"Perfectly".

With the transmission cut, Leng went to the rear seats of his skycar and got out one item. His Ninjato.  
After giving a few experimental swings with it, trying to make sure that he felt that there was nothing wrong with it, Leng attached it to the back of his prototype Cerberus armor, and then started checking his other armaments, just in case he was forced to use them. He took out his Rosenkov Materials Karpov pistol and gave it a once-over before putting it back to it's usual position on his armor, satisfied that it'd work.  
And then he overlooked his palm blasters, and after being satisfied that they would also work, Kai Leng then called Rasa and said, "Alright Rasa. I'm moving in. And I know just the place to set the trap".  
"_But what if the Turtle won't go where you want it_"?  
"Oh, he'll go there. I'll make sure of that".  
"_Understood, Leng. Good luck_".  
Smiling smugly, Leng replied back, "Luck? Oh, he'll definitely need it, alright".

* * *

**And that's that. Apologies for the long delay everyone. I had trouble trying to make sure this didn't seem bland or rushed, and I'm not sure if I did alright or not.**

**Anyways, the Turtles are about to get their first confrontation with Leng.**

**So, don't forget to leave a review and see you next time!**


	9. Two New Arrivals at Tayseri

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.**

* * *

_Docking Bay 347, Upper-Ward District, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, the Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 18th, 2183_.

It was business as usual at Docking Bay 347, as the Citadel Security Services Customs Branch maintained their usual vigilance over the dock, screening passengers and cargo, to ensure that the control of the flow and movement of passengers and cargo went smoothly, as well as ensuring also, the prevention of smuggling and trafficking of illegal goods or people attempting to illegally enter onto the Citadel.

But today, they were dealing with a very regular occurrence on the Citadel. Quarians on their pilgrimage attempting to go to the Citadel.

Even though there was no rule against pilgrimages on the Citadel, Customs were very reluctant to allow a Quarian to pass through customs, due to the very commonplace prejudice against Quarians as a whole, for their supposed 'unleashing' of the Geth upon the galaxy, and the view that all Quarians were beggars, thieves and vagrants.  
And even though C-Sec has rules of conduct in regards to how it conducted it's duties in regards to other species (that included Quarians), to say that there were those in C-Sec unsympathetic to the Quarians was a huge underestimatement, and thus, they purposely ignored such guidelines.  
Every time that they had to deal with a Quarian on his or her pilgrimage attempting to arrive on the Citadel, Customs officers made a lot of effort to try and make their life difficult, making them endure the purposely long delays and interviews that Customs put them through, supposedly in the hope that they would get the message that they were not welcome on the Citadel and that they'd go back to their fleet.

Some Quarians eventually did get the message that the Citadel was a no-go for them, and they left with no hassle at all, for many customs officers would go out of their way to see them off the Citadel.  
But unfortunately, some Quarians were very stubborn, like very two particular Quarians who were being interrogated in separate interrogation rooms.

One of whom, was being interrogated by an Asari C-Sec Customs officer with a temper.

"Now, this is gonna be the last time I'm going to be asking you. Where are you and your brother going to be staying, and what is the purpose of your visit to the Citadel"?

The young Quarian, sitting on the chair being interrogated, wearing the standard issued bodysuit for female Quarians, which had a dark brown color with grey lining, a uniquely patterned medium brown hood over her helmet and a light blue tinted visor, really couldn't understand what this Asari officer's problem was.  
When they had pulled her and her elder brother in for separate interrogations, they asked her why she was on the Citadel, and she began to explain that she was on pilgrimage and went on to explain it a bit more in depth, but the Asari officer cut her off and attempted to ask very probing questions. She even was under the impression that she and her brother were being treated like criminals and that had gotten her very frustrated.  
_Keelah, this is worse than going through father's usual lectures_...  
She shook her head, for she did not want to go down that path, thinking about her father.

And added to the frustration, Nia'Traal nar Shellen became agitated and growled, "Are you deaf? I told you, me and my elder brother are on pilgrimage, here to find ourselves a gift worthy to take back to the Flotilla! I keep telling you this and you act like we're criminals or something! Keelah, we don't deserve this sort of treatment"!

The officer, frowned and snapped at Nia, "Watch your tongue, suit rat! And yes, you Quarians are all beggars and thieves. Thus, that makes you a criminal. And thus, I will treat you like a criminal, because you are one. And believe me, no one will lift a finger to save you. Your kind isn't welcome here".

Nia was speechless, full of hurt. And that term, 'suit rat', didn't help one bit.  
_All those stories back on the Flotilla, were they all true all along_?

But before the Asari could continue, she was cut off by a call from her omni-tool, alerting her that someone wanted to speak to her via her standard issued C-Sec cochlea implant.

Accepting it, she took the call, by putting her right hand over her right ear, a universal sign that she was in the middle of a call.

"Yes? Oh sir. Yes, I'm still interrogating the Quarian".  
Then came a long pause, as the other person, presumably her superior, explained in detail, what was going on on the other end.  
"Wait, what? You're seriously considering this sir"?  
A sigh and "Yeah, okay. I'll let the Quarian know".

After cutting the call, Nia, agitated, went "My name, is Nia'Traal nar Shellen".

Snorting, the asari officer replied, "Like I give a damn. It seems that it's your lucky day for you and that brother of yours. You're being released. Now come with me".

Nia was shocked beyond words, but made to follow the Asari officer, who then said sarcastically, "Oh and one last thing. Enjoy your stay on the Citadel while you can, Quarian".

* * *

"I told you going to the Citadel was a terrible idea, Nia. These people have no sympathy for our kind here. I tried to tell you about how people treat us really, but you wouldn't listen. Remember what father always said. 'The galaxy hates all Quarians...'"  
"For making the mistake with the Geth and trying to rid them, Keelah, you are such so insufferable, Zen! I don't need you lecturing me like father. And I didn't even need you coming with me! I could have done much better than you on my own"!

The two Quarian siblings were now walking down the busy streets of Tayseri Ward, after C-Sec Customs had let them go, supposedly because they had lack of evidence and had to release them.

And everywhere they went, Nia noticed the very hostile stares that people on the street gave them, or the mothers whispering to their children, rapidly moving them away from Quarians like they were a plague, or worse, some purposely knocking into them.  
But the one that chilled Nia to her core, was one particular whisper, uttered by a Turian's Asari girlfriend, "_Urgh, disgusting suit-rats. Don't make eye contact darling, they'll beg for credits the moment you do_".

But soon, Nia was faced with the fact that his brother had a particular reason for sticking alongside her.

"Father gave me strict instructions to make sure that I keep an eye out for you, and to make sure that you return to the Flotilla safely once our pilgrimages are done".

Stopping, she turned around, facing her elder brother.  
Zen'Traal nar Shellen was taller than his younger sister, being 6 foot 0 inches tall compared to Nia's 5 ft 6 inches. His standard issued bodysuit for male Quarians, consisted of very clean silver with grey lining and a black tinted visor.

Throughout her life on the flotilla, Nia and Zen's father, who was the executive officer of the Shellen, constantly set expectations for both his children, Zen seemingly fulfilling his expectations, Nia not so much. He always spoilt Zen and phrased him heavily, whilst he was very hard on Nia, trying to make her 'the perfect daughter' who would devote her life to the Flotilla.  
And it didn't help that Zen, who tended to click his heels and never said no to his father even when orders made no sense, was also trying his utmost to enforce his father's expectations onto his sister. This resulted in Nia calling him 'bosh'tet', though not to his face.

And today, with everything that had happened, being dropped off by the _Honorata_ on the Citadel after a delay of 2 hours, taken in for a long interrogation by C-Sec Customs, and all the hostility that they were all getting from all the people living on the Citadel, now had left Nia with very little patience with her elder brother.  
"Keelah, Zen, you're such a 'father's lapdog'! Argh, I can't stand you always doing what father tells you to do and I certainly cannot stand the fact that you can't just leave me be! I can take care of myself"!

Fuming, Zen retorted, "Oh really, sister? Well, unfortunately for you, father will have my head if anything happened to you. Can't have Nia'Traal nar Shellen have anything wrong happen to her whilst she's on pilgrimage now, can't we"?  
And even though in a bodysuit, she swore that Zen was smirking under his helmet, as he leant in closer to whisper to her, "And plus, all the stories I could tell you sister, about what happens to Quarians too stupid to end up here on their own. But for now, I'll let it slide. We need to go down to the Lower-Ward District, and find some place to stay for the night. Then we'll figure out what to do tomorrow".

Sighing, Nia let her elder brother lead the way, resigned to the fact that even away from the Flotilla, her father was still trying to control her life.

* * *

**Well, well, well. At first, I had initially planned for this chapter to be yet another update on the Cerberus chase, but I wasn't getting anywhere and instead, decided to bring in two characters who were meant to be introduced in a later story, but I found, that introducing them here was actually a sound idea for this story.**

**And thus, meet Nia'Traal and Zen'Traal nar Shellen, two Quarians siblings on their pilgrimage.**  
**Nia is about the same age as Tali, just a few months younger, after all this is months before Mass Effect 1.**  
**Zen, on the other hand, is two years older.**

**And I'm really looking forward to seeing Nia and Zen alongside the Turtles in the Turtle Effect series.**  
**But of course, I'm not planning on stopping there. I've got two additional alien friends planned in future, but that's all I can say.**

**Anyways, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can, and see you next time!**

**Update: Just did some editing.**


	10. The Factory District

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.**

**Also, a slight sexual reference and some violence.**

* * *

_Building in the Mid-Ward District overlooking the Factory District, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon..., where are you, Mikey"?

Only five yards away from the boundaries between the Mid-Ward District and the Factory District, Leonardo anxiously looked out, hoping to see amongst the many containers, their youngest brother amongst it all.

After he, Donatello and Raphael went up to the surface to begin searching, Leo was very surprised to be receiving a call on his omni-tool from Mikey.  
And he was equally worried about what Mikey was saying about armed men who were pursuing him with guns and electric sticks. The call was cut short and Leo got really worried. He then had Donnie try and trace the call, and after anxiously awaiting, they eventually got the location of the car lot where Mikey had been.  
And they went on running, not intending on pausing.

But then, they had stopped after Mikey called again, much to Leo's relief. Mikey had knocked out the Capture Team and had left the Car Lot, for he was worried that there'd be more guys on the way, but that was the least of his problems, for he found that a skycar was trailing him, and Mikey now suspected that it was following him.  
Leo had to ask Mikey to calm down, and told him to head for the Factory District and that they'd meet him there. Mikey then affirmed Leo's decision and cut the call, all the while being completely unaware that they were being overheard by unseen ears.

And thus, the three turtles rushed towards the Factory District.

And now...,  
"So, what's the plan, Leo"?

Looking at Raph, "Well, Donnie's newest trace, of Mikey's omni-tool, was pinpointed Mikey to be within the Factory District. But however, I want all of you to be ready for anything. I suspect that whoever is after Mikey, might be bringing reinforcements.  
Now, stay sharp, and let's go get our brother".

* * *

Amongst the containers of the Factory District, within the shadows, was Kai Leng, armoured in his custom armor, with his single ninjato sheathed on his back, a Rosenkov Materials Volkov sniper rifle being carried by a small handle on the telescopic sight and a Rosenkov Materials Karpov pistol slung on the pistol holster on his right hip.

Crouching down on top of another container, Leng set down his Volkov, laid down comfortably into a comfortable shooting position and thus, the whole process of setting up for a perfect shot became second nature to him.  
Leng, having been an N7 during his Alliance days, was familiar with a sniper rifle and knew how to use it.  
But however, he wouldn't be using it against the Turtles. No. For he had other Cerberus operatives besides himself, working alongside him in the Factory District, to take on the Turtles.  
And besides the fact they had orders to take them in alive, Leng usually preferred to get up close and personal with his targets.

So now, he was using his rifle to take a look at the other three Turtles, who were now seemingly on the way to find their brother. And it was slightly difficult, for they seemed to be very good at moving from shadow to shadow, and also, sticking to the higher ground.  
_Admirable, but it will not save them_...

And soon, at one point, Leng got a lucky break when he saw that the three turtles were stopping for a moment, presumably to try and see any sign of their brother. And thus, Leng was able to get a good look at them. A purple masked turtle welded what seemed like a staff weapon, while a red masked turtle welded two sai. The blue one meanwhile, who looked to be in charge, judging by how the two turtles all looked to him for answers and by the sort of exterior he seemed to project, welded what appeared to be two Japanese swords.  
_Another sword welder, eh? This will be interesting_...

"_Operative Leng. We're in position_".

When Leng prepared for his trap, he called upon Jack Webber to gather some more reinforcements in order to get the trap set. And it turned out that Director Bishop agreed with Leng's plan, for that request was granted.

"Excellent. Now, start patrolling your assigned sectors. I'll be ready to call you. Leng out".

Leng had planned to have his Cerberus reinforcements, start aggressively patrolling in teams, assigned sectors given to them. And all but one section of the Factory District was to be covered.  
Then, when he confirmed that the Turtles had taken the bait, he'd call in the trap, and have the reinforcements move in on his position.  
And this assigned sector that Leng forbade the other Cerberus operatives to patrol? An lone warehouse and an sizable area surrounding it. He reckoned that the orange masked turtle would have to take shelter somewhere and if he left one alone, the Turtle would take it.

And soon, he continued watching the three other turtles, who were anxiously watching for any sign of their brother, until the leader got an omni-tool call, and answered it. Leng reckoned that the Turtle had found someplace to hide and was telling the blue masked leader where he was.  
Slowly, Leng got up and retreated further in the shadows, calling Rasa.

"Leng here. Did you get that call"?  
"_Affirmative, Leng. Seems like your plan worked. The turtle went to a warehouse of some sort. He isn't sure which, but he did mention that there wasn't any of our guys patrolling outside it. So that'll mean_..."  
"They took the bait. Thanks, Rasa. Anyway, I do believe that I have turtle soup on the menu. I'll be in touch".  
"_Leng, remember. We need them alive_".  
A sigh and a sarcastic, "I know, I know, argh, such lack of faith in me, Rasa. Don't sweat it, they'll be in one piece".  
"_Good. Oh, and one more thing. Be careful, Kai_".

After the call ended, Leng took notice at her last words. Sure she was a friend, and they engaged in casual sex, and he thought that they both understood that it was a 'friends with benefits' relationship, but clearly, Rasa seemed to be either wanting more than that, or was just simply expressing concern.  
Leng shook his head, there was no time to be thinking about that.  
But he would definitely be talking about this with Rasa, that was certain. After the mission was done of course.

* * *

Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael were moving from shadow to shadow, trying to keep out of sight from the patrolling armed men who were all over the entire Factory District, it now seemed.

And Donnie was tracking Mikey's call via his omni-tool.

Jumping across from container to container, swiftly and silently, the Turtles made no sounds to bring themselves to the attention of the armed men patrolling.  
But then Donnie noticed something on his omni-tool tracker and whispered, "Hey, stop for a bit guys".  
"What is it, Donnie"?  
"The tracker signal's getting stronger. I think we're getting much closer to Mikey".  
"Excellent. Lead on, Donnie".

* * *

7 minutes later, within Warehouse 2758, a lone orange masked teenage mutant ninja turtle was hiding within it, trying very hard to relax, but despite the fact that none of the armed men were patrolling near by, he felt really uptight and ever alert, as if an armed force would suddenly charge through the doors.  
And he was very afraid of the shadows, as if hands would come out and take him.

And Mikey hadn't holstered his nunchaku either. he was keeping them in his hands, ready to use it.

A creak from up top, made Mikey snap his view towards the roof.  
He was now really edgy and starting to hyperventilate.  
But then an omni-tool call came out of nowhere, and Mikey jumped and yelped in fright.  
Falling flat on his shell, Mikey groaned as he got up and accessed his omni-tool.

"That you Leo"?  
"_Yeah, Mikey, it's me. Listen, you really need to keep calm. I could hear you yelling all the way from up on the roof. You can only imagine if those armed men heard that. Anyways, listen. Me, Don and Raph are entering through the skylight. Everything will be fine, Mikey. We'll get you home free, I promise. Understood_"?  
A pause and "Yeah, yeah, I hear ya, Leo. I'll see you soon".

* * *

After Leo cut the call, he looked over to Donnie and Raph, who were by one of the retractable skylights, and Donnie was currently accessing into the skylight system, trying to get it open. Raph was hanging back, observing his surroundings.

"Donnie, how's that bypass working"?

After a few murmuring noises and humming, there was a sound of a successful bypass, and the skylight started retracting.  
Donnie did a fist-bump and went "Yes"!

"Alright, Don, Raph, follow me in".

* * *

Leng had also been moving from container to container, shadow to shadow, having had to leave behind his Volkov with his skycar, for he reckoned, that it'd only be a hinderance from here on then.  
So, he only had his Ninjato and his Karpov pistol.

And now looking at the warehouse, Warehouse 2758 to be precise, Kai Leng then accessed his cochlea implant, calling all Cerberus units in the Factory District.  
"_All Cerberus units, this is Operative Leng. Move on target location and prepare to surround. The targets are in Warehouse 2758. Make sure it is completely surrounded. And be ready to move in on my signal. Leng out_".

* * *

"You okay, Mikey"?  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, Leo. By the way, it's great to see you guys"!  
Smiling, Leo frowned and then made sharp glares at Donnie and Raph, and thus, he firstly said, "Mikey, I'm sorry for what we said at you back at the lair. And these two have some things to say to you".  
Under both his glares, Donnie and Raph uttered apologies for what they said.

And then Leo asked, "Can you find it in your heart to forgive us, Mikey? We've said really mean stuff I really regret, and urhmmm..."  
"Dudes, why are you bringing this up now? What's gotten into you? And you really mean that you're sorry? For all those things that you said"?  
"Yes, we truly are".

But before any more could be said, the doors opened, and all the Turtles snapped their heads towards the big door that was opening.

* * *

Kai Leng, having opened the door with his omni-tool, strolled right through and saw the four Turtles right in front of him.

Then, he clicked some more buttons on his omni-tool and closed the door behind him.

All four of the Turtles were curiously looking at him, one of whom, the blue masked turtle, was sizing him on how to approach a threat.

The red masked turtle started, "So, does anybody have any idea on who this guy is"?  
The orange masked turtle then sniggered, "Dunno. Maybe's he's the delivery boy"?

Leng retorted with a straightforward, "Funny. But your attempts at humor will not save you".

The blue masked turtle then started whispering, possible strategies on how to take Leng down, but the red masked turtle however, gritted his teeth, snarled, unsheathed his Sais and charged with a yell.  
"RAPH, NO"!

But Leng was ready for him, and used his right palm blaster to release a kinetic blast. The shot hit Raph in the chest, throwing him back right into the group.

"RAPH"!

* * *

After he, Donnie and Mikey were thrown back after Raph was thrown right into them, they soon slowly got up, groaning as they did so.

And this strange human, dressed in what seemed to be custom armor, began slowly approaching, taking his time. It was nerve-racking, but then Leo began analyzing him.

The man had dominant Chinese heritage, messy hair and what appeared to be a ponytail. He only had one pistol, a Rosenkov Materials Karpov, judging by the markings on it, holstered on his right thigh.  
And soon, as Leo, Don and Mikey drew their weapons out, the mysterious assailant reached for his back, and grasped a weapon.  
Drawing it from his left hand, Leonardo saw that it was a monomolecular blade, in the style of a Ninjato.

"Everyone, take him down"!

Immediately, Donnie and Raph charged, and the assailant immediately gotten himself into a defensive stance, holding his sword with two hands now. And his footwork was very akin to _ashi-sabaki_. And Leo noticed that he was carefully maintaining distance from his opponent. And that he always held his sword up high whenever he maneuvered.

_Definitely someone well versed in Kendo, one thing's for sure, this isn't going to be a easy fight_...

* * *

As the purple and the red masked turtles, charged towards Leng, he stood his ground and awaited for the purple masked turtle, who, welding a Bo staff, was the first to reach him.

The Turtle twirled his staff in his arms and tried to swing it to hit Leng, but Leng swung his ninjato to hit one of the Turtles' hands. Even though he missed, it served it's purpose as the Turtle's attack lost momentum and the Turtle started holding his staff in a defensive position. Leng seized the opportunity and started aggressively striking, the blade of his Ninjato making contact with the staff.  
Then Leng saw out of the corner of his right eye, the red masked turtle with twin sais charging for him, and unexpectedly kicked the purple turtle square in his chest area, causing him to drop his staff, and be flung right at the red turtle.

But the red turtle leapt out of the way, and the purple one was flung much further across the room.  
"Donnie"!  
Raph ignored Leo's cry over Donnie being flung across the room, and yelled as he charged towards the man who knocked him away with little effort, it seemed.  
Leng swung his Ninjato, and soon, the red turtle locked them with his Sais. Then, clanging between them began for a while, neither side gaining an advantage, until Leng managed to notice that this Turtle's attacks were driven by anger and rage, clearly he was a hot-tempered one, and thus that could be used to his advantage.  
And he did, by swinging his Ninjato into the upper right plastron of the Turtle, causing a cracking sound, and blood spilling out from where Leng's Ninjato made his mark.  
The Turtle yelled in pain.  
Quickly, Leng pulled his weapon hard, causing more cracking sounds, and soon, the sword was pulled, making the turtle even yell more harder.

"RAPH"!  
Then came a whoosh of air. And Leng saw only a chain fly through the air as it then wrapped around his Ninjato, and the orange turtle attempted to yank it out of Leng's hands. But Leng was stronger than the Turtle, and yanked harder, causing the turtle to be flung towards Leng, who then kicked him backwards, causing him to drop the weapon on his right hand.

With three turtles now currently on the ground, the only turtle standing, was the blue one, with two Katana drawn in both hands.

Leng and the Turtle locked glances, and Leng said "Your brothers were slow just as I expected, Turtle".

But however, despite a sharp glare, Leng could notice that this turtle wasn't going to be taken by anger and charge recklessly at him. This one was much more disciplined, it seemed.

"Now let's see if you are more of a challenge, Turtle".

* * *

**And now, the duel of the two swordsmen begin. Leonardo vs Kai Leng.**

**Anyways, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can and see you next time!**

**Update (16/4/15): Had to clean up a bit of dialogue.**


	11. Kai Leng vs Hamato Leonardo

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.  
**

* * *

_Warehouse 2758, Factory District, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

The two sword-welders circled each other, each of them neither keeping their eyes off the other, for they were constantly analyzing each other in a still-eyed focus. They kept a steady space between each other, keeping a firm grip on their swords and ready to pounce.

The tense silence and the waiting, that occurred, could have been cut with a knife.

But the waiting ended, as Leng immediately charged, holding his sword high above his head. And when he got close enough, he swung downwards.  
Leonardo, however, was quick to react, and brought his left katana to block Leng's ninjato.  
And then he began swinging and slashing with his right katana, all the while blocking Leng's blade, intent on throwing him off balance.

But Leng halted his attack and backed off, to which Leo tried to exploit with an attack.

Blades started clashing with each other, as both opponents started slashing at each other, attempting to make sure their blades drew blood.  
Both opponents were skilled at defending from an attack, but however, Leng outmaneuvered Leo and slashed at his upper left arm.

Leo yelped momentally as he soon backed off and looked at his wound, which blood was slowly coming out of.  
Then, he looked at Leng and, wasting no time, started counter-attacking.  
But his opponent was quick to defend, with his Ninjato blocking and countering every slash, swipe and swing from Leo's two katanas.

But Leng exploited weaknesses every time it showed and obtained more hits on Leo, the first being a sideways swipe on Leo's lower right arm and the second being an aggressive diagonal slash.  
With two hits in quick succession, Leo was thrown off-guard by his opponent's aggressive attacks, and Leng took advantage to make an aggressive swipe at Leo's legs, aiming to incapacitate Leo with hits to his thighs.  
But Leo was quick to defend and deflected the Ninjato away from him, momentarily, as so to give him a few seconds to catch his breath and get back in the fight.

However, Leng was not foiled for long, as he immediately went back on the offensive and Leo started defending.  
Already five minutes in, and Leo's vigorous defence was already starting to drain him and make him feel fatigued, due to the aggressiveness that his opponent put into his attacks, and that he just didn't seem to let up.  
Hamato Leonardo, the eldest of his brothers, the sword-welding leader, was in a fight for his life, it seemed.

But relief was coming, as behind him, three turtles were now getting back up.  
Donnie, Raph and Mikey, saw that Leo was an intense clash with the mysterious sword-welding guy who pretty much kicked their shells with seemingly no effort at all.  
Getting their discarded weapons back, the three Turtles thought on what to do, until Donnie took the initiative, taking his brothers by the shoulders and whispering, "Guys, gather around, I got a plan".

Huddling up with Donnie, Raph and Mikey listened intently as Donnie told them his plan.  
"Alright, Leo's keeping that guy busy, but it's not going to last forever. So, here's the plan. I'm going to attack first..."  
"What? Why do you get to attack first"?  
Ignoring their groans, Donnie sighed and continued, "You'll be next, Raph, and then you, Mikey, you'll come in last. Use your biotics".  
"Oh, okay, that makes sense".  
"Of course it does. Anyway, when you attack, just attack and lay down your hits on that guy, and don't linger. Remember, it's about hit and run attacks this time. Everyone got that"?  
"You got it, D".  
"When do we start, Don"?  
Nodding his head, Donnie then went, "Alright. Get ready. Stand behind me, and wait for me to do my attack, then you go next Raph, and then you, Mikey, go right after Raph. Okay"?  
"You got it".

And meanwhile, back in the fight between Leng and Leo, Leo was intensively defending, when suddenly, Leng made a mistake and Leo exploited it to swipe at Leng's face. His left katana hit the right side of Leng's lower jaw, from the cheek, right down to his chin.

Caught completely off guard, Leng growled.  
And both opponents stopped in place, with Leo settling to face Leng down with a glare.

Noticing a droplet of blood trickling down to his chin, Leng dipped his finger and brought it up to his tongue, which licked the blood off.

To Leo, it was very chilling.

"NOW"!

The sudden shout made Leo and Leng's heads snap to it's origin.  
Donatello charged into the fray, twirling his staff around rapidly until he managed to swing it to smack Leng square on his face, hitting him at the nose.

Disorientated, Leng was thrown completely off-guard, and didn't get a chance to catch his breath as Raphael leapt and laid down a cross at him with his right fist, and afterwards, came the hum of biotic energy and Leng felt himself being pushed right back from an biotic blow laid onto his chest.

Hitting the walls of the warehouse, and slumping down, Leng felt the wind knocked right out of him.  
He hadn't been hit this hard since training.

Aching all over, but most particularly in the chest, Leng slowly turned his head around to try and look for his Ninjato.

Looking over to the right, he saw it on the floor, but slightly out of his reach, so he slowly inched his hand to grab onto the handgrip of the weapon, in order to bring it closer to him.  
But his chest started aching more and more as he leaned to grab the sword.

So, he got onto his omni-tool and started the procedure to activate his armor's medi-gel injectors. Activating the medi-gel, Leng felt the instant cool appliance of the gel onto his body and the aching on his chest starting to lessen.

And thus, he looked at the Turtles and, convinced that they weren't too concerned on him, reached for his Ninjato, grabbed the hilt with his right hand, and when the aching disappeared, immediately got up and charged for them.

"Look out"!

Donnie shouted out his warning, and then, along with Raph, flung out shuriken towards their sword-welding foe, who raised his left arm, thrust his left palm blaster out and emitted a kinetic barrier, stopping the shuriken from reaching him.

Leo quickly rushed into him and tried to swing both his katanas at Leng, but Leng instead got his left hand to ensure that two hands were gripping his ninjato, and then blocked Leo's swings.

Withdrawing, Leng then unexpectedly began attacking aggressively, showing no sign of letting up, and it threw Leo off balance, so much that he locked his right katana with Leng's ninjato in such a way that Leng began pushing.  
And suddenly, Leng released his left hand, grabbed Leo's right hand and twisted it, hard, making Leo cry out as he let go of his katana.  
And soon, Leng locked blades with Leo's left katana, twisted it and made it fly out of his left hand.  
Leo, cried out again, and thus, Leng took the advantage to quickly put Leo into a chokehold, his right arm around Leo's neck and his left hand holding his ninjato, which was positioned near Leo's throat.

And then, suddenly, the Cerberus operatives, armed and armored, burst in from the main entrance and several doors elsewhere on the ground floor of the warehouse.  
"Close in, close in, go go go"!  
"Targets identified, awaiting further instructions".

Soon enough, the three Turtles, displaying their weapons, back to back, were now surrounded.  
And furthermore, Leonardo, their leader, was now in the firm grip of the sword-welder, not struggling.

Kai Leng, satisfied with the plan, now issued an ultimatum, "Turtles! Drop your weapons. Or your, brother, will die".

* * *

**DUNN DUNN DUNN!**

**Yeah, apologies for the delay everyone, but I was having trouble trying to figure out on how to make this chapter work, as well as trying to make sure that the duel between Leng and Leonardo was done correctly.**

**So, anyways, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can, and see you next time.**


	12. A Fall Over The Wards

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.**

**Warning: Some strong language.**

* * *

_Warehouse 2758, the Factory District, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

The tense atmosphere lingered, as the three turtles were torn on whenever to jump into the fray in an attempt to save their eldest brother, or to do as the mysterious sword-welder said.  
Either way, the odds were very dead set against them.

Leonardo, firmly in the chokehold of his captor who was holding his blade near his throat. did not struggle, for he knew that he was not in a good position to resist and it would not do him or his brothers any good.

So, closing his eyes and thinking for a while, Leo opened them and calmly went, "Do as he says".

The three turtles were shocked beyond belief, that their leader, was telling them to basically surrender.  
Raph growled extensively, clenching his sais hard, and both Donnie and Mikey were sensing the anger coming off their hot-headed brother.

Raph attempted to charge right at Leng, and both Donnie and Mikey grabbed Raph, quickly stopping him. The Cerberus operatives surrounding them tensed up and closed in a bit slightly, anxiously ready to open fire.

"Raph, Raph, Raph, calm down for goodness sakes"!  
"G'off me, Don! Leo's in trouble"!  
Then raising his voice slightly more, Donnie then went, "Hey, get a grip! You'll do no good to Leo, resisting. It's a no-win situation for us"!  
"Well, I better hope you've got a better plan than Leo's, Don, because I'm sure not surrendering"!  
"Raph, look around us"!

Raph stopped struggling, but Mikey and Donnie still held onto him, as Raph looked at the circle of Cerberus operatives who surrounded them, as well as the Cerberus swordsman who was holding Leo hostage.  
"You see, Raph? We're surrounded by armed men, who'll not hesitate to put us down before we'll do anything! We've got not a lot of good options, so I say we take a bad one".  
"And what's that, Don"?  
"The only one we've got. Drop our weapons and surrender".

Looking around, Raph kept on looking at the circle of Cerberus operatives, and his face changed from pure anger, to resignation.

"Uh, fine..."

Letting go of Raph, Donnie soon dropped his Bo staff on the floor, Mikey dropped his nunchaku and Raph dropped his Sais, each weapon hitting the floor with a clanging noise.

The Cerberus swordsman, who had been watching intently, while keeping his chokehold on Leo, smiled and said simply, "A wise decision, Turtles".

* * *

Outside the warehouse, 4 skytrucks were awaiting Kai Leng's prisoners, who after dropping their weapons, were restrained and then separated from each other.

Leonardo walked on silently, as he was led along by the 4 Cerberus operatives flanking him left and right, front and behind, as did Donatello.

The same could not be said for Raphael and Michelangelo, the former rapidly struggling, having actually bloodied one operative's nose after headbutting him, thus requiring more operatives to try and get a handle on him. Even with 10 operatives, it was a struggle to get Raph to a skytruck, and it was eventually decided to sedate him, which they managed to do after a good long while.  
The latter, meanwhile, was in his element. Just trying to relieve the tension by asking if he was allowed one vid call. As well as complaining about how rough the operatives were in their pushing him around.  
And just to make sure that Mikey wouldn't be able to use his biotics, they gave him an injection of Omega-Enkaphalin, which would disrupt his biotic abilities.

All four Turtles were taken to the 4 skytrucks, one for each one, and then transported away to one of Cerberus' scientific labs.

* * *

In the skytruck containing Mikey, 2 Cerberus operatives were in the back with the prisoner, while 2 operatives were in the front cab of the truck.

What was increasingly worrying for the Turtle being held in restraints, was where he and his brothers would be going.

_Are they gonna take us to a science lab to be dissected? Oh man, I never liked it when the hero gets captured by the bad guy to be examined in a science lab_...

One of the operatives then suddenly got an omni-tool call, and accepted it.

"This is Echo Ten Bravo. Come in over".  
"_Echo Ten Bravo, this is Papa Actual. We're approaching the split off point. I repeat, we're approaching the split off point. Then you'll be going to your designated RV point, and when you reach there, your driver will receive instructions on getting to the labs_".  
"Understood and acknowledged".  
"_Okay then. Papa Actual out_".

This wasn't good news. Mikey needed to do something and fast. He wasn't going to end up trapped in a science lab to be examined by men in white lab coats if he could help it.  
But however, his escape options were very limited, and Mikey knew that the skytruck was in motion, only stopping at certain spots before moving on, so he decided to make his attack when the skytruck next stopped.  
So he tensed himself, kept his feet firmly on the floor and put his shell against the wall, ready to spring himself at one of the operatives next time the truck stopped and lurched from the motion of stopping in place.

So in 4 minutes, the skytruck stopped, creating a lurching motion as the truck stopped in place, the operatives trying to not fall over.  
Mikey, thanks to keeping his feet firmly on the floor and his shell on the wall, took advantage of the opportunity given to him, and he launched right at the operative on the right as he was the one who got up first.

Knocking him back, a full-on fistfight started in the back of the skytruck between a mutant turtle with physical restraints, and 2 Cerberus operatives.

* * *

In the front cabin of the skytruck, the driver and his fellow passenger, a Cerberus operative, noticed that something was going on back in the rear cargo area, where the prisoner was held, with the 2 other Cerberus operatives, Antonio and Felipe, guarding him.  
It has started just after they had stopped at a junction, and were waiting for the lights to turn green.

Then the shouting, yelling, banging and thumping that kept going on in the back, became louder, making the driver exchange a glance with his passenger.  
Then, the Cerberus operative went onto his omni-tool and called, at first, Antonio, who didn't respond. Then he called Felipe, who also didn't respond.  
"Urgh, c'mon, pick up..."

And after several attempted calls to both the Cerberus operatives in the back, he then spoke to the driver, "Damn it, no response. Alright, head on for the RV point, and then..."  
Suddenly, the alarm started bleeping noisily, as he found that the rear door opened!  
"Shit"!  
And the driver didn't need any orders, for as soon as the lights turned green seconds later, he put his foot down.

* * *

Mikey was now clutching on for dear life as the skytruck now suddenly sped off without warning, with it's rear door open.

"Shit"!

His legs were dangling out of the vehicle, as his restrained hands, were now gripping the interior of the vehicle, trying to not fall down from a great height into the Wards down below.

And worse of all, his hands were slipping.  
"Oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man"!

But no matter how hard he tried, his hands lost his grip and soon enough, Mikey was falling.

"SHIT"!

And soon, he saw where he was heading down.

_Oh man, this is gonna hurt_...

* * *

_Lower Ward District, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

Five days. Five days of being on the Citadel, and already, Nia'Traal nar Shellen was regretting her decision to go to the Citadel. And furthermore, she hated being on the Citadel.

After traveling down to the Lower Ward District, Nia and Zen looked for some place to stay, but eventually found themselves going down to the Foundations, which were the undersides of the Wards, the slums, home to the unfortunate, the homeless, criminals, and of course, a sizeable amount of Quarians who decide to stay and make a living on the Citadel. They usually ended up in the Foundations mainly because everywhere else on the Wards, was very unwelcoming to Quarians, as Nia found out.

And apart from hating the Foundations, as well as living in it, and seeing what life was like down there, Nia also hated Zen's lecturing.  
Despite hating the Foundations and the rough few days of being on the Citadel, Nia still tried to make the most of her stay, by going up to the Wards in order to search for a job that could pay decently enough for her to buy a pilgrimage gift.  
Zen had snorted and said, "Good luck with that Nia. No one on the Citadel will think of giving a Quarian a high paying job. Sure, they'll give you a job, but it'll be a job that no one wants. And they'll know that a Quarian is in no position to refuse a job, even it is on the lowest salary. I'm telling you, Nia, bad decision all around".

But she had put her foot down, and insisted on looking for something to start off her pilgrimage.  
Zen relented, but insisted on accompanying her every time she went up to the Wards.  
And Keelah, it was such so annoying!

Today, looked to be no different, as she had started the day by getting up from a restless sleep at a Quarian settlement in the Foundations, then going to eat tasteless and unpleasant Turian food paste for a quick breakfast before going up to the Wards to search for something that could help her in her pilgrimage.  
But today changed when, Nia and Zen were walking near a warehouse when they both heard something yelling and crashing right through the skylight of the warehouse.

Intrigued, Nia went over to the warehouse, a protesting Zen following on.  
And Nia looked around to see if she could get inside and see if she could reach whoever fell through that skylight.  
Going around to the alleyway, away from the hateful glares and hushed whispers of the main streets, she found a sidedoor, and tried to open it, but found it locked.  
Zen tried to make her move on, but she shrugged him off, and then, got onto her omni-tool to hack into the door locking system.

"Nia! What are you doing"?  
"Overriding the lock to get to whoever fell through that skylight. What does it look like"?  
"Wait, you're actually doing this? Break into a warehouse just for some bosh'tet who won't appreciate the help? Just leave him, he's not our problem, Nia"!

Ignoring him and blocking him out of her mind, Nia set about continuing to work. Zen then tried to grab her arm, and pull her away, but she shrugged her arm out of the way and said, "Zen, if you continue on, I'll break your arm".

Flinching and taking two steps back, Zen was spared from trying to stop Nia, when the door unlocked and Nia instantly opened the door to get into the warehouse.

"Nia, wait a second"!

But she was already in the warehouse, and Zen sighed as he followed her in.

Inside, Nia started looking for the person who fell through the skylight. She then found the broken skylight, and reckoned that whoever fell through it, must not be too far off, so she went towards the skylight.

Making her way, the warehouse was dark, no lights running, except for the natural light that was being provided by the smashed open skylight.  
And thus, she tripped over a body. Falling flat on her face, she got up and turned to face the body, still shrouded in darkness.  
_So that's who fell down the skylight, I'm willing to bet_...  
And her theory was proven correct when whoever it was, groaned in agony.

It sounded like a male, Nia surmised. And his groaning was slowly becoming more clearer and more coherent.  
Zen caught up with her and said, "Nia, come on, let's just leave"!  
"No! We can't just leave him here to die! We need to take him to a hospital".

At this, the person tried to say something, but yelped in pain.

Nia then itched closer and asked, "Can you hear me? Do you understand me? How badly are you hurt"?

The response was a bit silent and Nia had to squint to listen further, but then she caught what he was saying "Ohhhhh, shell..."

Nia then tried to reassure him, "Okay..., just stay calm, and we'll find someway to get you to a hospital".

The response was instant, "No..., no hospital..., they'll come for me".  
"Who'll come for you"?  
But before that person could reply, he yelped in pain.

Then Nia, instinctively, wanting to see what sort of injuries he had, pulled him into the light, grabbing what felt like, his arm, and pulling him along, which caused him to start yelling.

And she let go once she saw what he looked like. He looked absolutely nothing like any species that the teachers back on the Flotilla had said, existed in Citadel space or even in the Terminus.

He had dark lime green skin, blue eyes, light brown hand and feet cloth wrappings and what appeared to be a shell of some kind.  
"What, what are you"?

And furthermore, she even noticed that his hands and legs were physically restrained by a set of interlinked cuffs.  
Curiosity set her in before, whoever it was, asked, "Hey, can you take these restraints off? They're so really uncomfortable".

Curiosity temporarily set aside, Nia soon looked at the restraints, which were unlike any sort of physical restraint seen in Citadel space. Nowadays, omni-cuffs were namely the popular choice, but this sort of restraint was a very rare thing.

However, her curiosity was set aside as she noticed a lot of glass fragments embedded in his arm, blood oozing out.  
So instead, she started applying medi-gel to the wounds.  
"There, that should make you feel better. Now, what are you"?

The person in question then went, "Look, listen, I haven't got time. I need to get out of here before they arrive to find me".  
"How will arrive"?  
"The guys who captured me! I may've managed to escape, but I'm gonna be hunted down, I know I will! Please, you've gotta help me".

Zen then grabbed Nia's arm and tried pulling her away, saying "He's not making sense, let's just go, Nia! He's not worth any trouble"!

Nia shrugged Zen off again, and Mikey, awaited the female Quarian's response, which she gave.  
"I know a place where you can go. We'll take you there".

* * *

**And there we go. Nia and Zen get dragged into this via helping out Mikey, while Leo, Don and Raph are being taken captive by Cerberus to a science lab.**

**Anyways, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can and see you next time.**

**Update (27/5/15): Just put in a line explaining why Mikey couldn't use his biotics. Whoops!**


	13. Recovery, Recuperation and Findings

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.**

* * *

_A room in the Quarian settlement, Tayseri Ward Foundations, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

"Urgh..."

Opening his eyes, Mikey found himself in unfamiliar territory, lying down on a bed of some sort.  
And with two Quarians overlooking him, one male and one female.

"Urgh, where, where am I"?

Silence, but then, the female Quarian spoke up first, "You're in a Quarian settlement. Down in the Foundations. We brought you here after you fell down through that skylight".

Slowly recollecting the events of what happened, Mikey then remembered, "Oh, yeah, I remember now. I must have fell from pretty far from that skytruck to have been out. How long was I out for"?

"2 hours".

Then Mikey remembered further, that he, along with his brothers, were being transported in skytrucks. By armed men, very much the same (well, maybe not exactly the same, but still) who were chasing Mikey in the first place.  
After his brothers had arrived to save him, Leonardo had his shell kicked by some mysterious sword-welder who outmatched Leonardo, and forced them to surrender. And thus, that was when they were transported onto skytrucks.

Then when one of the trucks stopped, and Mikey took the opportunity to fight back, a full on fight endured in the back of the skytruck, which resulted in Mikey being flung out and landing through a skylight of a warehouse.  
After that, he was sorta out of it, things being very hazy at the time.

Now, he was apparently in a Quarian settlement with two Quarians.  
He asked how he got here, and the male Quarian replied quite curtly, "It wasn't easy. We had to risk a lot for you, whatever you are, just to even bring you down here".  
The female Quarian then sharply glared at him and said, "Enough Zen".

The male Quarian, Zen, glared back, but the female Quarian ignored him, instead turning her attention onto Mikey, asking, "And anyway, there's a question I've been meaning to ask about you. I haven't seen any species like you. What are you"?

Mikey, suspicious at her question, frowned until it dawned on him. She knew he wasn't any species seen in Citadel space, so he replied, "Well, I'm not exactly a species. Or probably I am, or not. Donnie might..."  
"Who"?  
"Donnie, one of my elder brothers. He would have given you a better answer, he was always a genius in pretty much everything".  
"What, so you don't know what you are"?  
"Of course I know what I am. A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!"

At this, the female Quarian tilted her head, looking very dumbfounded.  
"Ooookay..."

But then, Zen suddenly burst out. "Alright, we're wasting time here! Let's just get this over and done with, then we can just send him on his way"!  
"No Zen! He's got 6 broken ribs, they need to heal and remember, he's still got those restraints on him".

"Huh?"

Mikey looked at his hands and legs. Indeed the restraints were still on.  
He then asked the female Quarian,  
"Hey wait a minute. How come you didn't get the restraints off, urmm, what should I call you"?

"Nia. Nia'Traal nar Shellen. And by the way, all the time you've been unconscious, these restraints are unlike anything in Citadel space that I've seen before. Whoever put these on you, they must have some serious tech. I'm gonna need to have some time before I can even get you free".  
"Well, can you get me free now? I've gotta go and get my brothers free"!  
"Your brothers? Free? From who"?  
"From these guys who captured me and my brothers. Three of my elder brothers. And they'll do some bad stuff to them if they'll continue to have their hands on them, I know it! So can you just get me free and I'll be on my merry way"?!

Trying to sit up, Mikey however felt really antagonising pain in his chest, which made Mikey yelch quite a bit.  
Nia quickly went over and gently settled him down, stating, "Look, whoever you are, I really wouldn't move. Remember, you've got around 6 broken ribs. The cuts and bruises, that I didn't mention, were healed by medi-gel and passing time. So I'm afraid until you heal, you'll be in a lot of pain if you try to move".  
"But, but, but but my brothers! I've gotta go save them!"  
He tried getting up again, but Nia pushed him down gently, and asked, "Urmn, Mr teenage...mutant...ninja...turtle, you'll do your brothers no good in that state. Please. Let us help you get better and then you can set about saving your brothers".

Thinking hard, Mikey groaned as he realised the truth that he wouldn't be much help to his brothers in this state. And of course, he knew that he'd be no good to them unless he was at 100% best, and he was nowhere close to that, so he just settled for acknowledging the female Quarian's offer.  
"Alright then, well, looks like I'm stuck here for the duration of my stay here. Oh, and it's Mikey".  
"Eh"?  
"My name. The full name's Michelangelo".  
"Ooookay then, Mmmmii..., gosh that's a mouthful".  
"Yeah, you can just call me Mikey".

* * *

_Secret Cerberus Lab, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula.  
_  
"Congratulations, Mr Leng. I see that you were able to temper in your assassin skills in order to take in our targets alive. Initially, we had planned on taking in one Turtle, but the fact that now we have three will be a big boost and a big help to our scientists to get accurate data. I'll make sure to inform the Illusive Man of your success".

As Kai Leng simply nodded back at Bishop, Operative Jack Webber pointed out, "Well, what about the fourth Turtle? The one we were pursuing in the first place? And remember that he managed to get free from the skytruck".  
Rasa cut in and stated "Operative Webber, I do believe that the chances of it surviving the fall from that height are extremely nil. I have no doubt it wouldn't have survived the fall".

As Webber opened his mouth, Bishop cut in, "Alright, alright, alright, that'll be enough. Rasa, true that there are very minimal chances of surviving from that height, but there are always a chance that he did survive, hence why Webber will be leading a small team of plain-clothes operatives to be on the lookout for anything unusual on the Ward. But before we get down to business, let's go and check in on our esteemed scientists who are examining our guests".

Heading down to the labs, Bishop, Webber, Leng and Rasa faced the entry point, where they entered after screening themselves through the security checks.  
The lab was a very big space, with four see-through containers, three of which housed three captive mutant turtles, who had their arms and legs on restraints.  
Their weapons, belts, masks, shoulder pads, kneepads and wrappings had been taken off and put on a table, to be examined by scientists, while, others crowded around the containers, making observations, writing down on their datapads and speaking to each other in excited tones that only a scientist would give to a fellow scientist.  
Bishop, who had called them in from their various embedded jobs on the Citadel to get a more detailed study on the Turtles for there would not be another chance like it, understood their excitement. To have three specimens was a Christmas gift for them.

Bishop, Webber, Leng and Rasa headed off to 2 particular scientists who were looking over their data pads, separate from the crowd of scientists that crowed around the containers.

Reaching them, Bishop coughed to announce his presence, and the two scientists looked up at the Director of Olympus Cell.

"Director Bishop, a pleasure to have you here".  
"Likewise, Doctor Visser".

Doctor Henri Visser, a Afrikaner scientist from South Africa, was one of Cerberus' top scientists, a title dictated by whenever you had the clearance to visit the Illusive Man personally, face to face. And Doctor Visser was certainly on that list.

"Doctor Falco, let's go brief the Director on our findings in detail, shall we"?  
"Of course, Doctor Visser".  
Doctor Victor Falco was a scientist specialising in the field of neurochemistry. His presence here was an indicator of the scientists of various fields being brought in to analyse the Turtles in great detail.

Bishop then started, "Well, then, gentlemen, let us see what your findings tell us".

* * *

**Well, sorry for the delay, everyone, but I was really having a hard time working through this chapter, believe it or not. And I don't think I'm completely happy with the final lines.  
This chapter was initially supposed to go on longer, but I felt, in the end, that I should cut it into two.**

**So, sorry for the delay, but here I am, with a chapter for you to enjoy.**

**Anyways, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can and see you next time.**


	14. Back to the Lair

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.**

* * *

_A room in a Quarian settlement, Tayseri Ward Foundations, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

Mikey breathed a sigh of relief, as the young female Quarian finally unlocked the last part of the physical restraints from him.

Nia then said, "Okay then. Even though your ribs have repaired themselves, I won't recommend moving around too much, not unless you want to ?"  
"Well, I do have to save my brothers, but I guess I'll be no good to them if I'm not up to scratch".  
A blank stare from Nia, or as close to a blank stare for a Quarian as you could get, followed with silence and then, "Up to scratch"?

Nervously, Mikey scratched the back of his head as he replied, "Human thing..."  
"But you're not human..."  
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Well, we're sorta are, in a way, I dunno. My brother Donnie would answer that much more better than me".

An awkward silence persisted, but Nia broke that silence by "Well, anyway, do you have any idea on where to find your brothers? Any clue would be a start".

"Well..., I know that we were about to be heading off to some labs, but that's about it. Awww, I wish I knew at least something that could help"!

More silence, as Mikey bowed his head downcast, sad that he may not be able to help his brothers, and Nia kept silent, feeling sympathetic.

But another occupant, wasn't as sympathetic.  
"Alright, Nia. This is a waste of time! Let's just go and leave this, whoever he is, and get out of here! He's not our concern"!  
An impatient Zen'Traal nar Shellen soon tried to grab his younger sister's arm and pull her away, and thus drag her away from Mikey and leave him, but Nia struggled, "Let me go, Zen! Keelah!"  
"He's not our problem, Nia! We've got much more urgent problems than getting involved in other people's business"!

Even more struggling came and at one point, Nia screeched in pain, as she sprained her wrist trying to break free from Zen, whose grip was unrelenting.  
Mikey had enough spectating. The female Quarian, Nia, had been so kind to him and he couldn't just sit back and do nothing.  
So he marched over, grabbed Zen's right arm, put his left leg on Zen's right shoulder and slammed him down on the ground, eventually putting Zen in a armlock.

Zen tried to get his left arm around to get himself free, but found it useless.  
And Mikey soon made himself very clear, "Now, you listen to me, Zan..."  
"It's Zen, you bosh'tet...ARGH!"

Mikey had applied a bit more pressure to Zen's shoulder joint, causing him to yell out.  
Nia then shouted out, "Stop! Stop it!"

At her pleas, Mikey then released Zen, who furiously picked himself off the floor, batting away Nia's hand when she extended it for him to grab.

"And even if we were to help this, erm, turtle, we don't have the means to do so, Nia! People who live in the Foundations, and that includes Quarians, they live in poverty down here. Now the Citadel may like you to think that poverty has been eradicated in this day and age, but the truth lays outside the doors of this room. So we couldn't help this Turtle even if we wanted to".

Nia and Mikey hung their heads, downcast at Zen's proclamation and the realisation that he was right. The Quarian settlement in the Foundations was not a place with top of the line stuff that could help find Mikey's brothers.

_Now, what am I gonna do now. My brothers have been captured, I'm stuck in a Quarian settlement with no way to help them, and both Master Splinter and April have absolutely no clue back at the...Wait_..._Wait a minute_...

_Of course, the lair_!

Then Mikey snapped his fingers, making the two Quarians jump slightly at this, as Mikey then said, "Well, what if I could get you a better place to work"?  
"Sorry?"  
"Well, your brother said it himself, Nia. This place has no means to help find my brothers. But I do know a place to do such a thing".

Looking at each other, the two Quarians pondered over this. Zen sighed and "Alright then, we'll help".  
Nia responded with, "Excellent. Now, where is this place"?

The Turtle's response was odd at most, as he seemed reluctant to actually say it out, and instead said, "Well, actually, it's much better if I showed you. It's not a place you'd find by asking a VI".

* * *

Back at the lair, Master Splinter and April O'Neil were really worried.

The morning seemed such a while ago, and they were expecting Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello to be back with Michelangelo, but it was now late evening, and they were really worried, Splinter especially.  
April had been pacing around, trying to keep her anxiety at bay, and Master Splinter had been trying to calm her, as well as keep his worries aside. Kirby had also tried to keep his daughter calm, but he then retired to his quarters to get some sleep, to which Splinter and April wished him goodnight.

But then, Splinter was drawn out of his thoughts as he heard footsteps approaching the entrance to their home. Hopeful, but still wary, he then went on full alert and whispered to April to get behind him.

A few tense moments of silence, and then came through the entrance, the youngest of his sons. Michelangelo.

"My son! Where have you been? I've been so worried..."

And then, Splinter noticed that behind him were two Quarians.  
Immediately, his eyes narrowed and he leapt right at them.

A shriek and a yelling later, and Master Splinter had pinned down the largest Quarian and was about to strike with his walking stick. But the voice of his youngest son, intervened.

"No Master Splinter! No! It's okay! They're friends!"

A brief pause and, Splinter got himself off the Quarian, also observing that the second Quarian, a female, was standing there, absolutely petrified of Splinter.  
But Splinter meanwhile turned to Michelangelo, frowning as he then said, "Michelangelo, do you realise how worried I and April have been? And where are your brothers"?

Michelangelo bowed his head down in shame, much to Splinter's surprise, and then said, "It's all my fault, Master Splinter. It's all my fault!"

Splinter raised an eyebrow at first, and after struggling to understand what his son might be apologising about, he then realised that his son must be still sorry about last night.  
But he didn't get a chance to say anything, before Michelangelo then said, "It's my fault that Leo, Don and Raph got themselves caught!"

Alarmed, Splinter then asked, "What? What happened to your brothers, my son? Please. Please tell me".

Mikey then took a deep breath, and began his story.

* * *

**Sorry to keep you all waiting there, but here you go. Chapter 14 ready for your viewing pleasure.**

**And I promise that we'll be getting around to the rest of the brothers soon enough, but Mikey still needs to find them with the help of his new friends, after all.**

**And also, stay tuned for a special inclusion for future stories in future chapters. That's all I can say.**

**Anyways, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can and see you next time!**


	15. Plans and a Talk

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect does not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.**

* * *

_"The Lair", the Sewers under Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

"And so, me, Nia and her brother came here, because I reckoned Donnie would have something in his lab that'd help find the others".

Splinter was now full with worry and shock, as his sons were now being held captive.  
It was absolutely one of his worst nightmares come true, the fact that his sons, the mutated turtles that he had raised since they were infants, were in a science lab, about to be experimented on by people who would have no consideration for empathy towards them.

Michelangelo then pleaded with Splinter, "Sensei..., Father..., it's my stupid fault that they gotten themselves caught! I need to save them!"  
Closing his eyes, Splinter then turned away from his son, deep in thought.  
"Then, your path is clear, my son. You must save your brothers. The fault of your brothers being caught may be or not be yours, but that no longer matters. What matters now, Michelangelo, is that you must save your brothers".

* * *

In Donnie's lab, Mikey and Nia crowded around Donnie's computer, while Zen just stood against the wall, out of their way, looking really bored.

At Nia's request, Mikey was describing the events of what went down, in order to find some clue on where his brothers were.  
Then, when he described the events that went on in the factory district, Nia had a brainstorm, and went to work on the computer.  
Mikey was amazed at how easily adjusted she was at the computer, considering that it was all designed to Donnie's specifications.  
But he shrugged it off, reckoning that he'd let it go if she found a way to save his brothers.

Soon enough, as Nia was working her way through the computer, Mikey went to ask on what she was doing, and she began explaining excitedly, "Well, as soon as you described to me at what happened in the Factory District, I reckoned that we had better started looking there. Cameras are everywhere around there. Well, maybe not everywhere, but there are plenty around, that I'm confident we'll find something.  
So now, it's just a matter of time to get access onto the cameras via C-Sec's mainframe".  
Mikey was confused, "Eh? What does C-Sec have to do with this"?  
Nia explained, "Okay, me and Zen have only been on the Citadel for a short period, but I do know that the security cameras on the Citadel are linked to C-Sec's mainframe. It's a way for them to access camera records whenever they need to do so".  
Understanding fell upon Mikey as he went "ah".

Typing through, Nia started murming, "ummm", "hmmm" and "uherm", until eventually she got in.  
Working her way, she soon started going through the mainframe, accessing cameras in the Factory District and looking back to see if they spotted anything.

And after scouring through, Mikey soon spotted something, and asked Nia to look into it.  
Rewinding, Nia soon stopped the video upon Mikey's request.  
It was an image of a skytruck flying in. Specifically, it had been one of the skytrucks carrying one of the Turtles.

Nia then said, "Hmmmmm, now let's see if we can find something from this that'll help us".  
"How?"  
"Well, every vehicle has an registration number right? If I can track the registration number of this vehicle, I can track where it has gone".  
"Can you do that"?  
"Well, I may be a Quarian, but I'll do my best".

Mikey smiled and replied, "You know, Donnie would love working with you, ya know? He's always into all this technical stuff".  
"Oh?"  
"Yeah, you two would probably spend forever talking about computers and science. And to be honest, it'd actually be great for him to have someone who understands what he's talking about".  
Looking down in sadness, Mikey said, "I know that we are a bit out of his league, not being as smart as he is".

Nia, still working, was silent, until she said, "I know what you mean. Even though I'm more for computers and tech, and not science, it'd be nice to actually be able to talk to someone who understands what I'm talking about. Your brother, Donnie? I hope you don't exaggerate about him being a genius".  
"Nope. He's a genius through and through. I mean, he helped me with my biotic amps".  
"Really? Now I've definitely would like to meet with your brother and have a talk with him".

A bored and uninterested voice cut in, in the form of Zen'Traal, who said, "Provided that you actually find him and the rest of those brothers in the first place. What's talking you so long, sister"?

Nia turned around and glared at her brother, "I'm working on it! This isn't exactly what you call easy! I maybe a Quarian, but that doesn't mean that whatever we do is it's done in seconds. These things take time"!  
"Time that his brothers don't have, sister..."

Then, a pinging sound came from the computer and Nia turned around, to look at the data that just came in.  
"Aha! Gotcha".

Mikey then spoke up, "Is it anything helpful we can use"?  
Nia smiled and said in response, "Oh, yes".

* * *

In the secret Cerberus lab, David Bishop was listening to the report being given by Dr Henri Visser and Dr Victor Falco.

Even though the report had been just about the findings from a preliminary blood and DNA test, it had been a remarkable discovery. That these were actually ordinary turtles that had been, for lack of a better term, genetically mutated with humanoid features.  
Webber, Leng and Rasa had been silent, quietly listening.  
Bishop then asked, "Okay, thank you Doctors for your report. But did you identify the source of their mutation"?

A cough came from Doctor Falco, who looked at Doctor Visser. A few moments of silent pondering and Visser gave a nod of approval. Falco then started off with, "No sir. And it's not because we couldn't. It's because when we tried to identify the mutagenic property that's attached to their DNA. But apparently, that mutagenic property was classified".  
Webber then spoke up, "Classified? By who? The Alliance? The Citadel Council"?  
"No, by Cerberus".

Eyebrows were definitely raised at that statement.  
After a tense silence, Bishop then coughed and asked, "By Cerberus, you say"?  
"Yes sir".  
"Hmmmmm..."

This was intriguing. Bishop knew that he'd need to get to the bottom of this, by going straight to the Illusive Man for answers.

"Alright. I'll see if I can get some answers from the Illusive Man about this matter. In the meantime, why don't we get a closer look at the Turtles?"

Visser smiled and said, "Of course, Director. And I'm looking forward to a much more proper examination".

Bishop, Webber, Leng, Rasa, Visser and Falco soon moved closer to the containers, and the scientists crowding around them, gave the six a wide berth.  
The Turtles had been sedated, a necessary precaution and procedure, a way to ensure that they didn't know where they were and to ensure that the scientists could examine them safely.

"Wake them up".

Protests came from the scientists, which were then quenched by Bishop repeating his command.  
Eventually, they relented and started waking up the Turtles.

After a few moments, the Turtles started awakening.  
It was slow going, and the sounds of groaning they were making were slurred.  
Leng tapped his foot on the floor, clearly impatient.

The one turtle in the far left cubicle, the one who had a dark green shade of skin and a blue ninja mask, was the first to properly respond, "Urgh..., whe...where, where...am...I? Where are...we"?  
Blinking his eyes to shrug off his dooziness, the turtle soon saw he was surrounded, and immediately tried to move. But he found himself restrained.  
And no matter how hard he struggled, the restraints wouldn't budge.

Bishop then whispered to one of the scientists, "Calm him down. Give him a minor shock".  
"Yes Director".

Typing on a console, the Turtle soon shrieked as he was zapped with a low voltage shock from the restraints.

Bishop immediately took control as the Turtle recovered from the shock, "The next shock will be much higher".  
"Eh"?

Looking up, the Turtle soon made eye contact with Bishop, who noticed that from looking at the dark blue eyes, the Turtle could not be any older than 15 years old.  
_This will be interesting_...  
"Now, Turtle, do you have a name"?

"What do you care? You're not getting any information from me".

Such strength and intensity from that sentence, even while recovering from a electric shock and from the effects of the sedatives, for one such his age, was impressive. Most impressive.  
Smiling, Bishop continued, "In time, my friend. In time. But firstly, your name. After all, it'd be rude for us not to act like civilised beings".

Snorting, the Turtle responded, "Why don't we start with you"?  
"You're not exactly in the best position to negotiate, young one. Now, your name".

A reluctant, heavy sigh and "Leonardo. My name is Leonardo".  
"Thank you, Leonardo. You may call me Bishop".

Webber, Rasa, Leng, Visser and Falco, as well as the Cerberus scientists present, looked shocked at Bishop revealing his surname.  
They were about to voice out their objections, but Bishop seemed to sense this, and turn his head back to glare at them with a very penetrating glare that made anyone in it's sight wither.

After a few moments of silence, Bishop then turned back to face at Leonardo, who glared at him with a steely scowl.  
"Now, shall we begin"?

* * *

**Woooooooooooo.**

**Now that was a very long one. I actually didn't think I was going to be able to complete this in October. I was initially having trouble with this one trying to make the whole section with Mikey and Nia in Donnie's lab work, for I didn't exactly want it to make it easy to track Cerberus to their hideout.**  
**But hey, I got it to work eventually, and I'm actually looking forward to getting around to Nia and Zen helping Mikey saving his brothers.**

**Anyways, don't forget to leave a review, have a happy halloween and see you next time!**


	16. Step One

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.**

* * *

_"The Lair", the Sewers under Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

Giving his nunchaku a twirl, Mikey was intensely focused, which Master Splinter took notice of.  
_But then again, a lot is at stake here. And Michelangelo knows it_...

But while Mikey had gone and stocked up on happō, shuriken, and a grappling gun, the two Quarians meanwhile, had forsaken any armaments, after learning that there were no guns for them to use. Instead Nia opted to just go along for the purposes of helping Mikey with all stuff electronic with her omni-tool, while Zen pledged to get himself a firearm from somewhere.

Ever since Nia had announced she had gotten something that would be one place to start for the search, Mikey had gotten to the armory and stocked up.

When that was done, Mikey asked Nia and Zen if they were ready, and they both replied in the affirmative.  
But before Mikey departed, he looked upon his father, who stood silently off to one side, and suddenly, gave his father a big embrace, saying "I'll bring them back, I promise, father".

Despite being surprised by the embrace, Splinter also returned it and said "I know you will, my son".

A cough and Mikey turned to look at the two Quarians, the male one, Zen, looking impatient, while Nia looked on with something akin to something else that Mikey couldn't place.

But Mikey shrugged that mystery off for later, as he then said, "Right then, shall we go"?  
Nia then said, "Right then, but in the meantime, do you mind if I take a look at your omni-tool for a bit? It might need a bit of upgrading from the looks of it".  
"Urmm, sure, why not"?

* * *

Walking down the sewers, Mikey uncomfortably scratched the carapace of his shell and asked, "So, do you know where we're going, Nia"?

The Quarian in question replied, "Yes. It's the last known location of one of the skytrucks that was carrying your brothers".  
"And do you have a plan?"  
"Yes. However, I won't deny that this will probably have to rely on chance and luck. But I reckoned that since you were captured, but got free, they would have be on the hunt for you. So, what we are planning on doing, is luring them out to us".

Mikey stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face the Quarian, asking, "I'm not gonna like this part of the plan, am I"?  
"Urmn, no".

* * *

Having walked all the way over to the boundaries between the Upper-Ward District and the Mid-Ward District of Tayseri Ward, Mikey was now jumping across rooftops, about to get the plan made between him and Nia into action, by continuously jumping across the rooftops, and back again, in some vain hope that a security camera might pick him up and that that security camera was controlled by whoever would be hunting him.

And eventually, coming to a stop on the edge of one of the rooftops, he looked around.

Sighing in frustration, he thought to himself, "Man, this is the best plan Nia could come up with? Geez, she's gonna need some lessons in hero making grand plans, sooner or later".

Silence and then, "Man, I sure do hope she knows what she's doing".

* * *

"Urmn, sir?"

Halfway through Bishop's interrogation of the three turtles, Bishop ordered Webber to begin to set out to capture the fourth turtle. That had been hours ago.

And now, Jack Webber, who was at the same warehouse where the Capture Team had set out to capture the one mutant turtle, only to capture three others, was communicating with his plain-clothed operatives, who were on the lookout for the fourth turtle, until suddenly, one of his computer operators called out to him.

Coming over, Jack then asked, "What is it"?  
The operator took a deep breath and said, "I think I've found the fourth turtle. On one of the security cameras right near the boundaries of the Upper-Ward District and the Mid-Ward District. Apparently, he's jumping rooftops".  
"Hence why none of the plain-clothes operatives can see them on the streets. We were looking in the wrong place. Good find. We'll get onto it right away".

Walking away, Jack got on his omni-tool, and called the leader of the Capture Team, who were on standby.  
"Alright, the subject has been sighted. You are to move in and bring it in. Alive. Director Bishop's orders. Webber out".

Cutting off the communication, Webber waited for the outcome, hoping that the Capture Team would successfully acquire and capture the target.

* * *

_A few minutes later_...

Mikey, still on the rooftop, awaiting an arrival, yawned and went onto his omni-tool, saying "Yeah, I'm gonna move on. They're not coming".  
"_Okay then. But don't give up. It'll take a while_".

Turning off the omni-tool, thus cutting the call, Mikey started heading off and went jumping across more rooftops, until he heard a noise that sounded like a aerial vehicle, but was not one of the X3M Skycars or even a skytruck.  
Turning around, Mikey saw that it was a shuttle. Despite not knowing what exact model it was, Mikey knew it to be threatening, considering that the side-doors opened, to reveal a squad of armoured soldiers, who dropped down onto the rooftops and started moving towards him.

Squeaking in alarm, Mikey noticed that they had spotted him and were moving with purpose towards him. Eventually, they raised their weapons at him and opened fire at him.  
"YIKES"!  
Ducking his head, Mikey avoided the shots aimed for him.

Without thinking, Mikey immediately took off, intending on running as fast as he could.  
The soldiers noticed and started their pursuit.  
"Target is sighted. Move in, go, go, go"!

Mikey was soon running for another rooftop, not even entertaining the thought of seeing whenever they were behind him or not.  
Running as fast as he could, Mikey leapt over the gap between the two buildings, until suddenly, he was struck on his plastrons by multiple projectiles that didn't penetrate, but instead gave him an electric shock.

Being hit by the stun rounds soon affected Mikey as he landed on the other side.  
After expecting a few moments of panic, the next few moments were very unclear to Mikey, as darkness took him.

* * *

Once surrounding the unconscious mutant Turtle, the Capture Team leader radioed in, "Capture Team to Base. We've got the subject. Awaiting further instructions".  
On the other side, the voice gave no indication of what he felt in regards to the actual capture itself, "_Retrieve the subject and bring it along to the pick-up point for transportation. Then head along to extraction. Relaying coordinates now. Base out_".

Once the other side cut off communications, the Capture Team leader soon gave his orders for the team to take the Turtle to the pick-up point. Putting it in restraints and injecting a syringe of Omega-Enkaphalin into the Turtle, the Capture Team was about to head out, when a search revealed something.

One of the operatives pulled something from the carapace of the Turtle's shell and showed it to the leader.  
The leader snarled, "A tracking device".

The operative handed the object to the leader, who then proceeded to drop it on the floor and crunch it with his boot.

"Alright, we've wasted enough time. Let's go and head out to the pick-up point. On the double"!

Picking up the Turtle, they then began making their journey there.

* * *

"Nia, the tracking device is dead".  
"Excellent. They've gone for the obvious. And by the looks of things, they're not checking for secondaries. As I was hoping for".

Zen, who was leaning against the wall, looked at his sister, who was sitting down on a chair, facing a screen, that was showing the mutant turtle's location.  
"And thus, we're one step on helping Mikey and his brothers by getting their location. They'll lead us right to them. But still, I won't lie. We will need to rely on chance here".

Zen could only ask, "So what now"?

Nia's answer was simple, "We wait".

* * *

**Sorry for the long delay guys, but man, this was another hard chapter to get right.**

**And I won't lie to you. The direction of this story, I'm not happy with how it's been going. I dunno why, but something with this story just doesn't click right as 'Turtles Arise' did.**

**Oh well, might as well wait until the next story, to see if things change. But in the meantime, got some chapters to do before I can get this one finished.**

**Anyways, anyone excited for TMNT 2: Out of the Shadows? I certainly am!**

**Anyways, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can and see you next time!**


	17. Step Two

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.**

* * *

_Location Unknown, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

"Urgh..."

Opening his eyelids slowly, all Hamato Michelangelo could see was a groggily world, with some blurry figures moving about.

But that groggily world was starting to become more clearer and clearer.  
Trying to move, Mikey found that he couldn't move, for his arms and legs were in restraints.

"Ah, you're awake".

Snapping his head to turn towards the owner of that voice, Mikey soon saw a man standing outside the four see-through containers that Mikey and his elder brothers were in.  
And speaking of brothers, Mikey looked around and saw the others, who looked alright despite being in restraints, the same as him, and the fact that they were upon Mikey in shock and horror, presumably due to him being captured.

Mikey initially questioned in his mind why would they look on in shock and horror when he only got captured because it was all part of the plan, until he realised that they didn't know about the plan.  
And Mikey reckoned that it would be best not to alert their captors to the plan.  
The man continued speaking, "You, have been giving us trouble. We spent a lot of effort and risked our anonymity just to get you. Three would have been enough but we just could not resist having the complete package".

Turning around, the man walked a few steps before stopping and saying, "Now, what is your name? I've already got Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello's names, but it'd be rude not to know yours".

Raising his head in surprise at that this guy knew his brothers names, Mikey took a deep breath and remained silent, intent on not letting his mouth run.  
"Mikey, answer him".  
"Thank you, Leonardo, but I didn't say you could speak for your brother".  
"I'm the leader. I speak for them".

Bishop nodded his head at someone Mikey couldn't see, and soon, Leo was yelling in pain, as the distinct buzz of electricity flowed through him.  
Horrified, to see his brother in pain, Mikey was instantly talking, "Alright, alright, alright, my name's Michelangelo! Please, just don't hurt Leo"!  
Bishop smiled and issued a command to turn off the electricity. Once that was done, Bishop then smiled, "Well, then, Michelangelo, that wasn't so hard, was it"?

After a moment of silence, Bishop spoke, to the room at large as well as the captive turtles who were listening, "Alright then, I just came from a meeting upstairs".  
All Cerberus personnel perked up at this, paying much closer attention.  
"We have orders from higher up. To move the subjects to a far much more secure location. Pack away this lab and secure all sensitive materials and data. Further details are in your omni-tools right now. We're moving, effective immediately".

And with that statement, all personnel started to make preparations to leave, by wiping the computers of all data (after securing the data on backup files), disassembling equipment and putting away items in boxes.

In the meantime, Mikey was asked by Leo, "What the shell were you thinking, Mikey? Getting yourself caught like that? Seriously, Mikey"!  
Mikey turned his head to look in Leo's direction and responded with, "Don't worry, Leo, I've got it under control. Please trust me on that".  
Raph snorted and angrily said, "Yeah, right. We put our lives on the line for you and...", until Donnie rebuked his brother with a stern "Raph, enough", all whilst Leo continued speaking to Mikey, "But Mikey, how do you expect us to get free? These guys know what they are doing and we have, wait, why are you smirking"?

* * *

_"The Lair", the Sewers under Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

Nia'Traal nar Shellen, on the computers, had her hands propping up her head, trying in vain to stay awake.  
But of course, no updates on the screen meant that she was about to nod off.

Until a sudden beeping brought her out of her sleepiness.  
Looking up, Nia took one look at the screen, and immediately became more awake as a result.

The screen revealed a bleeping dot at a location somewhere in the Lower Ward District in Tayseri Ward.  
Immediately, Nia jumped right into action, and shouted, "Zen, I've got them. Let's go"!

Zen, who had been nodding off as well, perked up at his sister's voice and immediately sprung into action as his sister got up from the chair and set about reaching the location, all the while she had been working on her omni-tool.

"So, where are we headed now, sister"?  
Still walking, Nia responded with, "We're going to the Foundations. There was a weapons seller down there, if I recall correctly".  
Grimacing, Zen informed his sister, "Boruk Yon isn't going to sell any weapons worthwhile for us. All he has are some badly maintained crap in the store, with a secret stash of weapons for anonymous clients. And we're not on his client list, nor is he going to let us give us some if we ask".  
Smirking, Nia said smugly, "Who said anything about asking"?

* * *

_Tayseri Ward Foundations, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

It had taken an agonising amount of time to get down to the Foundations, and then reach Boruk Yon's weapon store.

As soon as she laid eyes on Boruk Yon's store and saw the Volus in person tending to his 'clients', who were at the storefront, Nia started looking around for a way to get in the back, all the while, Zen tried to get his sister to stop in her course of action.  
"Nia, stop this at once! Those Turtles, are they really worth getting into trouble with Boruk Yon"?  
Turning around sharply, Nia said only one thing, with resolution, "Yes".  
Dumbfounded, her brother asked in exacerbation, "Why? You just only met that Turtle today! You don't even know him"!  
"Well, for one thing, he's shown me more kindness in one day than any other person on this station has ever done in all the time we've been on the Citadel! So there, Zen, there's your answer"!

Silence fell, and after a brief pause, Nia turned away and set about getting into Boruk Yon's store.  
Finding one particular door, Nia and Zen approached it. Opening her omni-tool, Nia began the process of accessing the door, while Zen kept a lookout.

And after a tense wait, Nia opened the door slightly and went in, holding it open for Zen, and after they got in, she closed the door.  
Immediately, Nia started leading Zen around stealthily in the store.  
Seeing a door, which lead into a weapon storage room, Nia was about to begin working her way on it via her omni-tool when she noticed that it was unlocked.  
Opening the door, Nia and Zen went in, and their eyes were laid upon a cashe of weaponry, all nicely stacked up.

But as Zen made to move out to get them, Nia stopped him.  
"What are you doing?!"  
"QUIET! Keep your voice down, Zen! Those weapons might have safeguards on them. Boruk Yon may be a bosh'tet, but he's not stupid. He wouldn't just leave unattended weapons without some kind of safeguard to prevent them from being stolen".  
Growling under his breath, Zen then asked, "Well, then, this trip is completely pointless then. We should get out of here now, before Boruk Yon finds us here".  
Nia smirked and said, "Well, you didn't think I was going to give up right there and then, did you, Zen"?  
Getting onto her omni-tool, Nia worked her way through, and after a tense two full minutes, the safeguards unlocked.  
"Alright, Zen. We've got them".  
But while Zen went to take the weapons, he did remind her of their predicament, "Yes, Nia, but we've got to get out of here first and past Boruk Yon, if we're to help those Turtles".

And just as Zen and Nia took 2 Haliat Stiletto pistols, an Armax Arsenal Crossfire assault rifle (proving that Boruk Yon had serious connections to get this or any sort of top of the line weaponry from the Turians), an Elkoss Combine Scimitar shotgun and an assortment of Systems Alliance Mark 14 grenades, the two Quarians heard voices outside.  
Immediately, the Quarians made all efforts to hide, determined not to be spotted if the door opened, for they had heard stories about Boruk Yon from fellow Quarians in the Foundations, and they really weren't going to see if those stories were true if they could help it.  
"Damn Quarians, always want to come begging to my door! Hmph! I'll show them..."

The door opened, and in came a Volus whom Nia and Zen were certain, was Boruk Yon.  
He went over to one side of the room, to pick out a Haliat Thunder assault rifle, and retrieved it from the weapon rack in his hands (Nia reckoning that the safeguards automatically registered Boruk Yon's presence), then turned and left.  
As soon as he closed the door behind him, Nia and Zen immediately set out to leave, with Nia slightly opening the door, and seeing Boruk Yon attend to the store.  
"All right, coast is clear. We better move".

And immediately, both Nia and Zen, with their acquired weapons, opened the door and made a silent but swift exit.  
But as they opened the door that they entered, a screech came from behind.  
"WHAT IS THIS"!?

With the sound of Boruk Yon screeching his voice modulator as high as it could manage, Zen immediately shouted, "RUN"!  
Immediately, the two of them broke into a run, running as fast as their legs would carry them, not looking back at who was shouting behind them.  
Eventually, after running around all over the Foundations, they stopped in an alleyway to catch their breath, and as soon as they did, Nia wasted no time.  
"Alright, we're in the clear. Come on, we've wasted enough time as it is".  
Zen didn't have time to reply, as Nia headed over to a X3M Skycar that was parked nearby.

* * *

_The Lower Ward District, Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

The journey was long, as well as anxious. Nia and Zen had constantly fidgeted the entire journey.

But while they breathed a sigh of relief, as Nia reached where the signal was coming from, she noticed a constant amount of Skycars and Skytrucks. This wouldn't have been unusual to any Citadel resident, given the massive amount of traffic on the Citadel, but what caught Nia's eye, was that they were focused on a particular area.  
She had a hunch, that this was where Mikey and his brothers were being held.

Parking the Skycar a certain distance away, Nia and Zen got out of the vehicle and began readying themselves, holstering 2 Stiletto pistols, picking out a weapon of their choice (Zen took the Crossfire assault rifle, while Nia took the Scimitar shotgun) and sharing grenades amongst themselves.  
Then, they started moving stealthily as they could get, to where Nia reckoned all the activity was going on.

Reaching what seemed to be a construction site, Nia and Zen looked around, to see if there was any sign of a door or a way in, until Nia looked at the actual wall surrounding the construction site, and reckoned that it was able to be climbed.  
"C'mon, Zen, we've got to go over".  
"How"?  
"By climbing. Help me up and I'll help you climb".

Even though Zen looked doubtful, he knew that time was being wasted, so he complied and kneeled by the wall. Nia then used Zen to propel herself up and grab onto the top of the wall, which she pushed herself up and managed to reach. Then she turned and reached her right hand down, for Zen to grab.  
Zen, who had gotten up from his kneeling position, saw the hand and jumped to grab it, which he did on the first try.  
Keeping a tight grip, Nia pulled and pulled until Zen got over the wall.

Now, on the other side of the wall, Nia then saw something suspicious. Despite the warnings on the wall saying that this was a construction site, there was no indication that this was such. No gantries, no building tools and anything related to construction at all.  
Sneaking through, Nia and Zen noticed also people within.  
And what was strange about these people, was that they were holding some very high-tech assault rifles and were patrolling with vigilance.

This made Nia all the more sure that she was in the right place.

But then, a certain noise from one direction, got Nia's interest and she moved over there, with Zen following.  
Reaching there, and getting into cover, Nia and Zen took a peek, and saw, what seemed to be a landing pad, full of Skycars and Skytrucks that were landing and taking off.

"Guess we're in the right place. Get ready Zen".

* * *

**Only a few more chapters to go...**

**Sorry for the long delay everyone, but I just didn't feel that certain 'itch', as it were, to work on this story. The only progress I ever seemed to make, were a few words at a time and that was it, and urgh...**

**But anyways, Nia and Zen have reached the Cerberus lab, and are about to rescue Mikey and the Turtles?**  
**Find out next time to see what happens!**

**So, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can, and see you next time!**


	18. Step Three

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.**

* * *

_Location Unknown, Tayseri Ward, The Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

With all the hectic activity going on, as their captors began to pack away all equipment, Leo noticed that they were not moving their see-through containers just yet, so he reckoned that there might be a chance, to find an opportunity to break free and escape.

But all hopes of that, were dashed when Bishop arrived and said to the six heavily armed guards, accompanying a team of scientists, "Alright, the subjects are to be sedated effective immediately, then sealed away until we reach a secure location. Get right onto it, now".  
"Yes, sir".

Soon, Mikey started whimpering, as he felt that he screwed up. _Again_.  
But as the scientists began injecting the Turtles with a sedative, Mikey heard an really loud explosion. Knowing who it was, Mikey smiled. They had come.

* * *

Nia'Traal nar Shellen and her brother Zen'Traal nar Shellen, watched in delight as the Skycars and Skytrucks blew up simultaneously from the 2 grenades that they had thrown with perfect accuracy.

With this explosion, people were thrown all over the place. Armed guards, or men carrying out what seemed to be cargo, were thrown back by the blast, and it took them a good long while before they got back on their feet.  
"Perfect", was all Nia could say as she smiled.

Then, turning to Zen, Nia said, "Alright, we better move while they're still down. You remember all the stuff that you learned back at the flotilla, right"?  
"Yeah, yeah, it's been a while, but what about you"?  
"Well, I wasn't exactly the top scorer in accuracy, but I did okay. I'll manage".  
"I sure hope so, because whoever they are, they don't look like the type to mess around. They really look like they know what they're doing".  
"Well, we better get a move on".

Immediately, the two Quarians jumped down from their overhead cover and moved through into what seemed to be the entrance into a secret base, where alarms were blaring.  
And as the security personnel in the entrance made to challenge them, Nia and Zen used their weapons to take them down, before they could get a shot off.  
The Quarians moved through and went deeper into the facility, overhearing the PA System sound out a gravelly male voice, "Attention all personnel. This facility is under attack. All Cerberus personnel are to speed up relocation efforts immediately. All security personnel, hunt down the intruders and execute with extreme prejudice".  
Nia immediately took charge, "Urgh, we better find those Turtles and quick. We need to get floorplans for this facility, or we're gonna be here all day"!  
Zen asked the obvious question, "So, how are we going to do that"?

Nia looked around as they moved through, and saw a terminal.  
"Well, for starters, that terminal will do nicely".

Reaching the terminal was straightforward, and Nia managed to get into it okay, with no hinderances, and got the floorplans for the facility.

"I've got it"!, came Nia's excited and overjoyed voice.  
"Excellent, now we need to go and find them, quick! I get the feeling that whoever this 'Cerberus' people are, they're not gonna just stand around and let us move around freely".

* * *

As soon as the explosion came, followed by the alarms, Director Bishop, his second in command Jack Webber, Doctors Henri Visser and Victor Falco, Operatives Kai Leng and Rasa, all moved to the secure room, where the doors locked (and would not open unless Director Bishop and Jack Webber gave their joint authorisation to do so), sealing them in a safe place, where Bishop got a datapad and started coordinating defense efforts.

"Give me a Sitrep"!  
"Sir, we've got two intruders! They're attacking the base and moving in"!  
"What are they"?  
"Two Quarians, sir! One male and one female".

As Bishop started organising the defence, Rasa asked, "But what are these Quarians doing? What business would they have in attacking this base"?  
Kai Leng gave a simple answer, "Simple. They're in league with these, 'turtles' and are here to rescue them".  
Immediately, Jack Webber asked, "But how? Our files on the Turtles indicate no such accomplices or allies, and they've haven't had time...to meet them". Suddenly, Webber, then came to the realisation. The orange masked Turtle, Michelangelo. The period after he had dropped out their radar before being pursued by Cerberus and being captured, he must have come into contact with these Quarians and acquired their help, Webber realised.  
But any further thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of gunfire and explosions that grew much more frequent.

Immediately, Bishop flicked through the datapad, and saw that the two Quarians were advancing towards the labs.  
Kai Leng went up and asked, "Director, let me stop them".  
Director Bishop looked at Kai Leng and shook his head, "No, Leng. The situation is under control. But if I require your services, I will ask for it".  
Leng looked infuriated, but then Rasa, who had picked up a datapad and started looking through the cameras as well, then shouted, "Director! The Quarians have managed to reach the labs"!  
Bishop immediately went over, snatched the datapad from Rasa's hands, looked on it, and his face made the most displeased expression ever.  
Looking at Kai Leng, Director Bishop then said "Well, it looks like that your services will be needed, Leng. The Quarians have managed to reach the labs, and are closing in on the Turtles. Do not let them escape".

* * *

Mikey's mouth made the largest grin ever seen, when Nia'Traal and Zen'Traal came into sight.  
"Mikey"!  
"Guys, the plan worked"!

Leo, Raph and Donnie all exchanged glances towards one another as Mikey and the two Quarians exchanged words with one another.  
Then, Mikey looked over to his brothers, and said, "Bros, meet Nia'Traal and Zen'Traal, they're gonna get us out of here", as the two Quarians started getting to work on the containers.  
Leo was the first to ask, "Who are...? And where did you meet..."?  
"Long story short, Leo, I met them and we're on our way to become friends. That is, if we manage to get out of here. But, seriously, trust me, Leo. They're here to help".

A pause came, as Leo contemplated his answer.  
Then, with no time to lose, he decided to trust Mikey on this and said, "Alright, then, we've got no time to lose. We need to get out of here quick"!

And just as Leo finished saying that, the containers opened, and the Quarians started freeing the four Turtles from their restraints.  
Immediately, as soon as they were free from the restraints, the four Turtles moved to the table, to get their gear. Quickly, the Turtles raced against time to get themselves ready, getting their weapons, belts, masks, shoulder pads, knee pads and wrappings back on.  
In a rushed manner, they did, and as soon they were finished, Leo then said to his brothers, as well as the two Quarians, "Alright, let's get out of here before they decide to send reinforcements".

* * *

As the six of them ran through the corridors, which were surprisingly void of any security personnel, or anyone stopping them period, Mikey seemed to think it was the right time to be jubilant.  
"Well, what do you know, my plan to escape worked! We're gonna..."

However, Raph interrupted, "Mikey, if you jinx us, I swear..."

Then suddenly as they approached a corner, they then came face to face, with someone familiar.

"Not so fast, Turtles".

It was him, the sword-welding guy in armor that kicked their shells at the warehouse, and beaten Leo in combat to the point where he held him at swordpoint, forcing the others to surrender.  
Pointing his right palm blaster at them, he also had his ninjato in his left hand, ready and waiting.

Immediately, the four Turtles drew their weapons, ready and waiting, while the two Quarians also drew up their weapons.  
Leonardo was the first to speak, "You"!

"Still sore from your defeat, Turtle? How 'bout we go for round two"?

Leonardo narrowed his eyes and said, "Gladly".  
Donnie whispered into Leo's ear, "Leo, need I remind you that this guy totally beat our shells the last time we faced him"?  
"I know, Donnie. Don't worry. Just trust me, and follow my lead".  
Even though a bit skeptical, Donnie complied, "Okay, Leo. Whatever you say".  
Nia and Zen however asked, "What about us"?  
Leo turned to face them, "Just stay there. We'll take care of this", and then seeing Nia about to voice a protest, Leo insisted, "Trust us, you'd only be getting in the way".

Feeling down into his belt, Leo noticed that he had around 5 shurikens and 2 happō left, so he elected to use them wisely, as he immediately charged with Donnie, Raph and Mikey following Leo's lead, as they attacked Kai Leng, who just stood there awaiting them.  
As Leo swung his katana at Leng, immediately, came a response.  
Leng brought up his ninjato to blow Leo's blade, and both blades clashed with a clang, before both Leo and Leng started attacking.  
Donnie, jumped in, attacking with his bō staff, as did Raph and Mikey with their sais and nunchaku. But Leng was unfazed, and from the looks of things, effortlessly defended himself.  
But however, Leo continued on with his plan, and waited for the opportune moment.

After relentless attacks on Kai Leng, Leo immediately changed his tactics, throwing one shuriken at him. Surprised, Kai Leng only just managed to swipe his ninjato, cutting the shuriken in half. But it was a brief distraction, and Leo capitalised on it. Restarting his attack, Leo continued on with his strikes, before finding the right moment to throw his shurikens (his brothers meanwhile, taking the time to look at their inventory of shurikens and happō) at Leng.  
More sword-clashing, and Leo took another opportunity, this time, to throw 2 shurikens at Leng. Afterwards, Donnie threw all of his remaining shurikens, further disorientating Leng. Then Raph and Mikey threw their remaining shurikens at the same time, causing Leng to lose his concentration further in trying to take down the shuriken, which showed as he missed around 3, which hit Leng. On the right cheek, on the nose and at his left eyebrow, leaving the kind of cuts that bleed.  
But despite this, Leng was undaunted by mere cuts, and remarked, "Is that all you've got, Turtles? You're gonna have to do better than that".

Leo then used the opportunity to throw his remaining 2 shuriken at Leng, who blocked them easily, before defending from attacks from Raph, Donnie and Mikey, and then, Leo carried out the final part of his plan.  
He threw his 2 happō at Leng, and immediately charged at Leng.

One of the happō exploded upon contact with Leng's armor, but the other harmlessly bounced off Leng's armor and rolled off somewhere, unnoticed by the participants of the fight.  
Taken off guard, by the smoke that stung his eyes and made him cough a bit, Leng found that it was too late to do anything, as Leonardo crashed into Leng, knocking the Cerberus sword-welder back, sliding across the floor.

After stopping, it took a while for Leng to get back up, as that attack had not only knocked the wind out of him, but he knew that he had broken a rib or two, given that he felt quite extensive pain around the area where his ribs were, just by simply getting back up.  
But of course, Leng was not going to let a bit of pain hold him back, and managed to get back up on his own two feet, a bit unsteadily at first as he continued on coughing and rubbed his eyes, before holding his ninjato at the ready.

Spotting the discarded and intact happō near him, Leng aimed his right gauntlet blaster at the turtles, firing kinetic energy blasts at them, intending on distracting them.  
It worked, as they didn't notice Leng taking the happō off the floor in the midst of the confusion.  
Charging at the Turtles, Leng yelled and threw the happō right at the Turtles, most particularly, the face of the sword-welding one.

The Turtles were immediately caught off guard, as not only the sword-welding Turtle had been hit in the face by the powder, but the powder had hit the others in the eyes. Stumbling, they fell onto the ground, struggling to keep themselves upright.

The two Quarians, who had been holding back, out of the way of the battle, decided to intervene and attacked, by bringing up their firearms and opening fire. Leng immediately acted, and emitted a kinetic shield.  
Then when their weapons overheated, Leng charged at the Quarians and fired his palm blaster at them, knocking them back and knocking them out.

Mikey, who was still dealing with the loss of vision by the happō powder in his eyes, struggled to get back up. And that was difficult to do, as he waved his arms about, trying to get a grip on something to get him standing.  
But as he got his hands on the wall behind him and tried to get back on his two feet, Mikey could hear the sword-welder's voice as he called for someone on his omni-tool.  
"Director Bishop, this is Operative Leng. I've stopped the Turtles, and the attackers. Yes, the two Quarians. Need reinforcements at my exact location", then after a brief pause, Leng finished off with a simple "understood", before cutting off his omni-tool and turning around and saying, "what?"

Mikey couldn't honestly be surprised, as Leng took on an astonished tone as he saw Mikey stand tall on his own two feet, all while groaning.  
And even though blinded by the powder, Mikey swore that Leng was smiling.  
"Still persisting to fight, even when blinded with powder? I must admit, I am impressed. I am not easily impressed, but you turtles have made me very impressed. For this, I will grant you a quick death".

But as Leng droned on, Splinter's voice came to Mikey, "_perceive threats that you cannot see_". This repeated, until Mikey moved his bandana around to one side (the eye holes now to the right side of the head), completely closing his blinded eyes off from the world, so that he could focus his senses.  
Focusing, Mikey then felt a swing of a sword in the air.

Meanwhile, on the floor, Leo groaned as his eyes stung from the powder in his eyes, before he got to wipe his eyes extensively to get rid of the powder.  
After a while, he blinked a little bit before his eyes managed to regain their vision, and Leo gaped at what he saw next.

Mikey had twisted his blindfold around, and was relying on his other senses to battle with Leng, dodging his sword strikes by "feeling" the air.  
And Leo reckoned that Mikey was doing pretty well, all things considered.

A few minutes after that, and much to Leo's amazement, Mikey rolled out of the way from one of Leng's sword strikes and managed to plant a high-powered kick straight into Leng's ribs, throwing him down the hallway.

"Mikey, that was amazing"!  
Mikey (who turned his mask around to see out, and rubbing his eyes quickly to get back his vision) beamed, but before Leo could say anything, their heads turned to the other end of the hallway, where shouts and the sounds of running people were heard, bringing them back to reality.  
Leo took charged "We gotta get out of here pronto".  
The two of them got Raph, Donnie, Nia and Zen off the floor, on their feet and moving.

As they ran through the corridors, Mikey asked the obvious question, "Dudes, how do we get out of this place"?  
Then Nia smiled, saying, "Oh, I know just the solution to that problem. Follow me".

* * *

After spending 3 minutes, following Nia, the six of them reached the door, and opened it to find a small hangar, filled with 3 skytrucks, 1 skycar, and 2 UT-47 Kodiak shuttles.

Spotting the shuttle, the six of them reached it and entered it.  
But before any of the Turtles could ask the obvious question of would they be able to fly the shuttle, Nia got to the pilot's console and managed to work her way through to starting the shuttle's engines up.  
And faster than Leo was expecting, Nia got them starting, and soon enough, the shuttle took off from the hangar and crashed right through the door, and out of the Cerberus facility, into freedom.

_Now to get back home_, Leo thought.

* * *

**Apologies for the long delays everyone! I'm sure you hate having to endure a long wait for an update. I know how you feel in that regard, but of course, I've been trying to balance writing Mikey's Worth, as well as Turtles, Vikings, Foot, Kraang and Dragons (a chapter update is in progress, so don't worry, I haven't abandoned it!), and Dragons of Berk: The Triwizard Tournament (my progress on that has been regrettably slow, I'll admit).  
Anyways, the Turtles, Nia and Zen are now out of the Cerberus facility, and are heading for home. Stay tuned for what happens next!  
Now, I'm hoping for only one or two more chapters before the epilogue, but who knows?**

**Don't forget to leave a review whenever you can, and see you next time!**


	19. Step Four

**Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to Viacom and Bioware.**

* * *

_The Skies Above Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula_.  
_February 21st, 2183_.

Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, Nia'Traal nar Shellen and Zen'Traal nar Shellen were now escaping on a UT-47 Kodiak shuttle, from the hidden Cerberus facility that they got free from.

And while they were flying away, Mikey took the time to introduce his brothers to the two Quarians, "Guys, this is Nia'Traal nar Shellen and her brother, Zen'Traal nar Shellen. They're Quarians on their pilgrimage, who found me after I fell from the skytruck, and helped me ever since".  
At this, Mikey's brothers looked upon the two Quarians with differing looks, Leonardo with an impressed look, Raphael with slightly hidden respect and Donatello with intrigue.

But, while they were at it, Nia asked, "Where to"?  
Immediately, Leo took charge, and said, "To these coordinates", before moving closer to the console and inputting them into the shuttle's nav computer.  
Nodding her head, Nia started flying the shuttle to the location provided by the coordinates, before Zen said "We've got company. Behind us".

Checking the internal radar and ladar, they soon detected five vehicles in pursuit.  
Raph said out loud, what everyone was thinking.  
"Skytrucks. Again".  
A loud groan followed, and Mikey said, "Well lose them"!

Donnie interjected, "Yeah, I don't think they're gonna let us go, Mikey".  
Leo however took charge, "Not if I've got anything to say about it", and urged Nia to speed up a bit. The Quarian obliged and manoeuvred the shuttle in preparation for evasive maneuvers.  
As the shuttle got faster, their pursuers, 3 skytrucks loaded with Cerberus operatives, sped up to try and keep pace with the Kodiak, until the Kodiak took a right turn and then descended, to more enclosed areas in the lower levels of the Citadel.

* * *

On board the lead Skytruck, the lead Cerberus operative in charge issued his orders on the ongoing pursuit, ordering the two other skytrucks to head to 2 different exit points, that the Turtles might exit, while ordering the driver of his Skytruck to go straight after them.

Keeping an eye out, as the Skytruck sped right through the enclosed areas, the lead Cerberus operative tried his utmost best to find where the shuttle was in this maze, until the driver came to a complete stop.  
He was about to query why, only to find that the shuttle was right in front of them.  
The shuttle immediately shot off, and the Skytruck had to immediately take avoiding action, not an easy task to do within the enclosed area down in the lower levels of the Citadel.  
In fact, the Skytruck nearly crashed into a neon sign, overhanding a crowd of civilians, and as the Skytruck made erratic maneuvers to get back after the shuttle, almost crashed to the ground, causing civilians to scream and head for cover.  
But eventually, the Skytruck got ahold of itself, and soon, the lead Cerberus operative began calling the others about the shuttle and it's change of direction, ordering that they get onto the pursuit before they loose them.

But it was too late, for the shuttle managed to merge with traffic, hiding itself in plain sight.

* * *

"Alright, right here. Stop over there and land".

After traveling a certain distance, amongst the crowd of traffic to keep them hidden, the shuttle now parked itself in a car park. Quite a bit exposed, but there wasn't anywhere for them to land that they could do it without people noticing. After having this pointed out to him, Leo said simply, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But for now, we need not to lead our pursuers to our lair. Anyways, time's wasting, and we better not keep Master Splinter waiting".

Opening the doors, Nia and Zen peaked their heads out, looking around, and when the coast was clear, said so to the Turtles, who immediately moved silently, with intent on reaching a hatch to the Citadel sewers.  
Using the parked vehicles for cover, the Turtles and their Quarian companions then found a nearby sewer hatch, but it was across the street, in an alleyway, and in between it, were a lot of people.  
"Damn".  
"So, what's our plan, Leo"?

A pause and, "Anyone got any smoke bombs with them"?  
After all the Turtles checked, they saw that they only had one for each Turtle "Just four. One for each of us, Leo".  
"Alright then, on my mark, throw then in the center of that crowd', indicating to a point where he wanted the smoke bombs to hit, 'and soon enough, when they're confused and panicked, we'll make our move. They'll hopefully be too preoccupied with the smoke to notice us".

Getting their smoke bombs ready, each Turtle readied to throw them, with Leo giving the orders, "On my mark".  
As everyone readied for the throw, Leo then issued the order, "Mark"!  
Their aim was true, and the smoke emitted, spread and covered everywhere. With this, the Turtles and the Quarians made their move, right past the people who were trying their utmost to get out of the smoke, coughing as they did so. Soon, reaching the alleyway, Donnie reached the sewer hatch and began using his omni-tool to access it, and in record time, opened the hatch.

With all jumping down the hatch, with Donnie shutting it behind him, Leo took the lead and said to the others, "Come. We must get back to Master Splinter at once".

* * *

**Alright! The Turtles escape from Cerberus, and are on their way home!  
****I suspect there'll probably be only two chapters left in this story, and then that'll be it!  
****Anyways, looking forward to the last 4 episodes of Season 4 of the TMNT 2012 series. And I am most definitely looking forward to Mass Effect: Andromeda. It certainly does have a sort of Star Trek vibe going about it, in the whole "exploration" kind of way.**

**So, don't forget to review whenever you can, and see you next time!**


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